The Russian-Speaking Ukrainian Nationalists (RUN) public organization and residents of the Desnyansky district have demanded that Vitali Klitschko dismiss the chairman of the Desnyansky district state administration, Vadym Onufriychuk. They claim that Onufriychuk is destroying the capital's only special school for wheelchair users in order to appropriate 20 million hryvnias from the budget.
KyivVlast learned of this from RUN activists. Their appeal to the Kyiv City State Administration chairman is related to Vadym Onufriychuk's attempt to seize the premises of the Slavia School, which has been operating in the Desnyansky District for 17 years. During this period, the school developed unique teaching methods and implemented individualized learning programs for wheelchair users. 78 children attended the school daily.
After Slavia's lease expired, officials refused to renew it. In 2014, the city took over the premises, and in March of this year, the teaching staff was forcibly evicted. During the eviction, according to the RUN, a disabled war veteran was beaten, and a teacher with a childhood disability was locked in the school building.
"This is the only educational institution in Kyiv that is wheelchair-accessible. Ukrainian and international laws were grossly violated, and other disabled people are cynically exploited to fuel a non-existent conflict over space," notes a letter from local residents addressed to Vitali Klitschko.
Vadym Onufriychuk considers his actions legal and promises to open a kindergarten in the building at the center of the dispute. He claims that the building once housed a preschool, and the Kyiv City Council has decreed that they be returned en masse to municipal ownership and restored to normal operation.
However, those initiating the appeal to Klitschko suspect that Vadym Onufriychuk's heightened interest in Slavia stems from a simple desire to appropriate budget funds. After all, the district has been allocated 20 million hryvnias for the return of kindergartens and their renovations. Meanwhile, the head of the district state administration has paid little attention to other kindergartens leased to businesses, focusing specifically on Slavia.
"For 17 years, the school's founder, the Congress of Ukrainian Disabled People, has invested in it with its own funds and those of philanthropists, and the school is in good condition. So, you must admit, it's a brilliant idea—to take a well-maintained building, invest a few pennies, and then pocket almost the entire 20 million," the letter states.
According to the RUN, after the story of the allocated millions became public, Onufriychuk attempted to create discord among the staff. To this end, he promised "select" parents of children with disabilities a small space for classes and rehabilitation. The RUN also noted a direct conflict of interest: as a Kyiv City Council member, Vadym Onufriychuk voted for, and possibly lobbied for, the allocation of 20 million hryvnias to himself, now as the head of the District State Administration.
Activists also recalled that even before the controversial official's appointment, residents of the Desnyansky district, led by social activist Valentyna Fedorovska, appealed to the Kyiv City State Administration leadership to prevent Onufriychuk from assuming the post. As KyivVlast reported, the appointment procedure was illegal, and Onufriychuk's activities were linked to the interests of Andriy Kravets and Serhiy Lyovochkin, close associates of the "Family."
It's worth noting that Vadym Onufriychuk, head of the Desnyansky District State Administration and a member of the UDAR-Solidarity faction on the Kyiv City Council, came under the close scrutiny of Ukrainian nationalists back in September of last year. Upon becoming head of the district state administration, he began complaining at a City Council meeting about the deputies performing not only the first verse of the national anthem, but also the second. They then slapped him with the offensive nickname "vatnik" (quilted jacket), and even tried to throw him out of the session hall with a slap.
Sergey Kochetkov, KyivVlast
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