Invincibility Points in Kyiv: what has been achieved and what needs to be worked out (PHOTO REPORT)

The first Invincibility Points have been opened in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. According to the Kyiv City Military Administration, each such point will be able to simultaneously receive from 40 to 500 people regardless of the time of their stay. These people will be able to charge their mobile devices, warm up, get cold and warm water, mobile communication, Internet, and even first aid. In addition, it was promised that such tents will be equipped with mother and child rooms.

The hromadske correspondent checked in practice how such points work during a power system failure.

The main task that the Invincibility Points really solve is access to heat and electricity, but the tents of the State Emergency Service are not large enough to accommodate up to 500 people. The visual maximum is up to a hundred people. There are only ten such points in Kyiv so far. They are located in every district of the city, but now they will not be able to provide a large number of Kyiv residents with heat, electricity, and Internet.

In addition, not all of these tents offer the same services. For example, there is a children's corner in the tent on Solomianka (35 Vasylia Lypkivskoho Street), but it is not available in the tent on Nyvky (69/1 Peremohy Avenue).

In addition to the specially equipped tents of the State Emergency Service, the role of the Invincibility Points is performed by specially equipped places in government buildings, kindergartens, schools, and other public places. In general, as noted by the Kyiv City Military Administration, 500 such points are planned to be deployed in the capital. All of them are indicated on a special interactive map on the project website.

But not all of them work in practice. The hromadske correspondent talked to 70-year-old Tamara, who was first directed to the point on Saliutna Street as the closest to her home, but there she “did not find anything like that”. It is difficult to say how many of the points marked on the map actually work.

So far, the main disadvantage of the Invincibility Points is that they are difficult to find right away. After all, in the absence of mobile Internet and communication in a large part of the city, the map where these points are marked cannot be used. In addition, even in normal Internet conditions, it can incorrectly show your current location.

The solution that would solve this problem could be the integration of the Invincibility Points map into Google Maps. This would make it possible, not only to quickly find the nearest point but also to find out how to get to it the fastest way in the event of the next blackout.

The Kyiv City Military Administration advises writing down the addresses of the nearest Invincibility Points, but this may not be enough. The hromadske correspondent was looking for a tent of the State Emergency Service at 3A Moldovska Street in Lukianivka for a very long time but did not find it (there was nothing at the address indicated in Google Maps, Moldovska Street itself is torn in two by a military unit, which complicates orientation, the map on the Invincibility website did not work properly). During the search, the correspondent encountered a woman who was also looking for this point and could not find it. That means that some markings for orientation would be useful for the points located in the depths of the blocks.

The blackout that we experienced the day before is unlikely to be the last one, there is a long winter ahead, so the Invincibility Points will only become more popular. But while they cannot meet the needs of many citizens, the call of the authorities to businesses to join the support of the population in a critical situation is quite justified.