Crisis situations are the regular bread of local governments. Flood, hurricane, but besides the threat of war are the challenges we face present – says Grzegorz Pietruczuk, Mayor of Warsaw Bielan. “Polish Armed Forces” talks about cooperation with the mayors of Ukrainian cities, their experiences and solutions, which should be adapted in Poland during the construction of civilian defence.
Participants of the global summit of local governments in Kiev had the chance to look at how civilian defence functions during the war. First on the left Grzegorz Pietruczuk, Mayor of Warsaw Bielan.
At the global summit of local government in Kiev, you had the chance to look at how civilian defence functions during the war. Can local government experience be adapted to conditions in Poland?
Grzegorz Pietruczuk"Today we do not gotta convince anyone that Poland must build civilian defence from scratch. The last 80 years of stableness and comparative peace in Europe have put everyone to sleep. erstwhile 2 million refugees arrived in Poland after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine [in 2022 – ed.], which was mainly accepted by local governments, we had a very fast lesson in working in highly hard conditions. As an example, I will give an example of the situation that took place in Bielany, where I have been mayor since November 2018. Only in my vicinity at the highest of the minute were more than 20,000 refugees.
In order to welcome them and give them even the minimum surviving conditions, we have occupied gyms, we have launched all available accommodation points. Parishes, hotels, hostels joined. Refugees besides went to over 600 housing units from the territory resources and houses of the Bielan residents. At that time, the local governments stood up to the challenge. Only a immense part of the work we put into it was improvisation. And it's not expected to look like that. We should be ready for different scenarios. Therefore, I believe that it would be a pity to build civilian protection in Poland not to take advantage of Ukrainian experiences.
Grzegorz Pietruczuk, Mayor of Warsaw Bielan.
So you're asking for more cooperation with the Ukrainian side?
Yes, especially since Ukrainian self-governments offer their own assistance in this area. They want to show the solutions that worked best for them. We had the chance to learn about their effectiveness during a fewer days' journey to Kiev [at the 3rd global Summit of Cities and Regions – ed.]. During this time, the Russian military has carried out the strongest attacks on the Ukrainian capital in the last fewer months. How did we know about the imminent threat? Everyone in Ukraine has an app installed on the telephone that informs it regardless of the time of day and night about where the threat of attack appears and at what time. It means going to shelters. This is 1 tiny but very crucial example of how the state cares about the safety of citizens.
We in Poland are just beginning to work on building civilian protection. I am pleased that the Act on this substance was created, although we should have had this programme for respective years.
Why?
Because it takes quite a few time to prepare for this infrastructure. Take my neighborhood, for example. We've got dozens on her land. shelters and shelters built in the 1950s and 1960s. But in fact they have different ownership status, they are in very different method condition. any were hired and execute various functions unrelated to their first purpose. And I, for respective months, have been incapable to ask the ministry for guidance on the method conditions to be met by shelters so that they can be considered a place of refuge. Without them, we can't decision on with the renovations of these facilities.
What about financing these investments?
Money's not a problem. The government programme, for which PLN 10 billion has been allocated, is now underway [Civil Protection and Defence Programme for local governments. The Bielany territory Office prepares quite a few applications to benefit from this programme based on Ukrainian experience. While in Kiev, I saw different solutions developed by Ukrainians, I know both their advantages and disadvantages.
There are many examples. Let us even scope for these shelters. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine appeared the first modular shelters built from prefabricates. They can be placed very quickly, only in a month, and each has an independent ventilation and sewer system. But they withstand impacts of missiles up to 130 mm caliber and should not be utilized as a strategy solution. The experience of Ukrainian self-governments shows that specified shelters should be built at bus stops, at junctions, which many people usage at the same time. However, most shelters for safety reasons, Ukrainians effort to hide underground.
Ultimately, we should be betting on more advanced shelters. And here the Ukrainians have very interesting solutions, easy to transfer to our backyard. 1 of the places I've had the chance to see is a shelter at the schoolwhich in the future can receive up to 1,500 children and teachers. There are smaller rooms in the shelter. Each area is assigned to a peculiar class, and each kid has a chair bench signed by his name. All the rooms have their own ventilation system. In case the rocket was hit in the shelter and if the ceiling collapsed, the facility was equipped with 2 or 3 independent exits. In addition, there is an independent strategy of drinking water transportation and food retention in the shelter.
Such an object is most likely very costly to build...
Yes, but Ukrainians think very practically and don't throw money in the mud. Therefore, the rooms in the shelter are prepared to execute various functions. On the 1 hand, they are expected to be shelters for children and adults, but erstwhile there is no danger of air strikes, for example, exams can be organised in them, due to the fact that smaller rooms are better suited to conducting them.
In addition, 1 of them made a shooting scope where young people can practice weapon handling and shooting laser and conventional weapons. A deafened and safe 25 m long area can perfectly execute various functions depending on your needs. presently built shelters besides have an anti-radiation function [in the event of a atomic detonation – ed.].
Do you have any thought how to implement specified solutions in Bielany?
We want schools from our territory to be upgraded in the close future to be equipped with shelters for students and teachers. Although this will increase investment costs, following Ukrainian solutions and planning fresh shelters under schools, we will focus on the multifunctionality of these rooms. specified assumptions are included in our proposal for backing from a government programme. This is how we want to start rebuilding the civilian protection system.
It is besides crucial to introduce uniform procedures for the evacuation of children during the air alarm. Ukrainians put quite a few emphasis on it. They practice with the youngest students all the time during possible attacks. Thanks to this, evacuation of the full school of up to 1,500 children is able to carry out in 5–6 minutes, before specified action took 15–16 minutes. It turns out it's possible, but you just gotta practice.
We are besides planning to modernise the Oligocene wells in Bielany, although the capital city of Warsaw slow extinguished them, due to the fact that the water in the Warsaw taps is very good. Unfortunately, times have changed and we must be ready for another threats. For next year we plan to run at least 2 or 3 fresh places with Oligocene water.
The experience of Ukrainian self-governments shows how much specified points are needed during the war. Russians systematically attack Ukrainian electricity networks and water supply networks. In this way, they cut off the inhabitants of cities from the clean fresh water they request to operate. Then the Oligocene wells or even average manual pumps, which disappeared from the scenery of Warsaw in the 1990s, become emergency water intake sites. I saw it in Tarnopol, where these average water intake points were created based on manual pumps. And they work large there, especially during water supply breaks. In addition, they are easy to usage for residents.
On the another hand, we are inactive faced with the deficiency of guidance from the Ministry of abroad Affairs concerning the modernisation and construction of fresh shelters. The company, with which we are presently designing the renovation of the Bielański Environmental Self-Help House, inactive cannot get guidance on how to adjust the 350-metre facility so that it can service as a refuge. For now, the definition of shelter and shelter is very fluid.
Civil defence isn't just shelters. What else is crucial for the people?
As a self-government, we have developed procedures that concern our security, cooperation with the regular military, with territorial defence troops. But that's not all. Many years ago, I set myself the mark of building a local community. The 1990s and systemic changes caused the social ties to break. Now we self-governments are working very hard to rebuild social relations – so that the neighbors tell each another "good morning" to know each other. due to the fact that how crucial human relations are in times of crisis, I see all time I go to Ukraine. It's a lesson our society has to do.
But it's evidently a substance of long work. Meanwhile, he should be back in schools as shortly as possible. defensive adoption, and cognition of this subject should be common. And we should practice as much as we can. There should be as many electronic shooting stations in educational institutions as possible. specified a weapon range, thanks to the Ministry of Defence's grant, was created in the Bialysian Domeyka advanced School. There should be at least a fewer of them on the Bielanas themselves, so that not only youths can practice. Not everyone needs to learn how to fire a firearm at once, but everyone should know the rules of first aid, informing signs or realize sound signals.
Gun training besides teaches responsibility. In the first days of the Russian invasion to defend Kiev, quite a few volunteers volunteered. Currently, many civilians in Ukraine have weapons, which can be a major problem in the future, after the end of the war. Therefore, peculiar detectors appeared in Ukrainian schools.
So Polish self-governments want to decision on with building civilian defence, what obstacles do you face?
The faster local governments receive the country-wide guidelines, the faster we will be able to effectively implement civilian protection measures. Hence my strong appeal to the government to make the work on guidelines an absolute priority. We're all waiting for that.
We are able to work very hard to improve the safety of citizens of our local homelands. And we take this as a priority. September flood in Lower Silesia She was an emergency signal for all of us. The communications strategy in flooded areas did not exist. The fact that their towns flooded rivers, the mayors learned from text messages. This can't go on, we gotta change the system, due to the fact that we are liable for people's lives.
Ukraine has been through a lot, and it knows which solutions work, which request to be improved. Let's just usage her knowledge.
