Freeze as you wish

A mother with two children is forced to live in a summer annex in winter

The walls are thin, there are miniature radiators, there is not enough glass in one of the windows, it froze from the frost and the toilet burst when warming up. These are the conditions in which the administration of the village of Nevskaya Dubrovka offers to live for Evgenia Melnikova and her children.

On May 6, 2013 there was a fire. Evgenia Melnikova’s husband died in the fire, and everything he owned and many documents burned with him. Zhenya and the boys - Kirill (10 years old) and Anya (8 years old) - were literally left on the street.

According to Russian laws, the state is obliged to help people in difficult situations. There is even a special housing stock for this. And at first they really helped Melnikova’s family: they gave them the opportunity to live in a displaced orphanage.

But at the end of March 2015, the former orphanage was sold, and Zhenya and her children had to move again. This time they were given a separate two-room apartment. It would seem that I don’t want to live! If only the apartment wasn’t actually a summer extension to a wooden house. In cold weather - and especially in winter - this room is absolutely not suitable for living.

In the fall, problems began: the roof was constantly leaking, the wiring was unreliable - but the children were now seriously afraid of fire (their house caught fire because of the wiring). Then the cold came.

Miniature radiators in three sections are not capable of heating a room consisting of two rather large rooms and a kitchen, separated from the street by not very thick walls; and there is not enough glass in double frames. While the winter was not particularly severe, we somehow saved ourselves with electric heaters, because of which traffic jams were constantly blown out.

And then the January frosts struck. The temperature in the extension has dropped below zero, and it is almost impossible to raise it until the warm season arrives. On January 2, the water in the sink and toilet froze. They called plumbers and tried to warm up the toilet, but as a result it burst. For a long time they promised to replace Melnikova, but they never did.

This is what the bathroom in the extension looks like. The toilet has been removed, but this trough is proposed to be used as a shower stall

Yes, for now this is not particularly necessary: ​​living in an extension is still impossible. One night Zhenya and the children tried to sleep in sub-zero temperatures, and since then they have been huddling with friends. Fortunately, the world is not without good people. But how long can you stay with friends?

“It’s very difficult for children,” says Evgenia. – We spend the night here and there. Things are scattered across different apartments. Where to store textbooks, notebooks - in that house, in this?

Somehow you

Of course, as soon as the January holidays ended, Melnikova immediately turned to the administration of Nevskaya Dubrovka for help. She was told that there were no other premises. Live as you want.

Novaya made a request to local authorities. We asked for clarification whether the administration is aware that a family with two children is being forced to live in non-residential premises, and what measures have been taken in this regard? From the response signed by the head of the administration of the Dubrovskoe urban settlement Andrei Bashnin, we can conclude that officials have not taken any measures and are not planning to.

“This living space was provided to the family of Melnikova E.V. before the turn arrived and due to the fact that the municipal maneuverable housing stock available in the administration of the Dubrovskoye Urban Settlement was provided to citizens who lost their living quarters during fires that occurred at an earlier date.”

That is, there is no other housing - that’s it, leave me alone. For example, such a simple solution as helping to insert glass, sealing holes in the walls and insulating them, replacing batteries is not even considered.

Andrei Bashnin also carefully reported that Melnikova is currently registering ownership of the land plot on which her house previously stood, which she can sell to buy a home.

“We would love to buy something,” admits Evgenia. – But, firstly, our original documents burned, and for registration of ownership they require the originals. There is a copy of the original in the Bureau of Technical Inventory in Vsevolozhsk, but they refuse to give it to us. I thought about going to court, I talked to a lawyer - he asked for 60 thousand rubles. I don’t have that kind of money now.”

Evgenia Melnikova is a worker at a furniture factory in Nevskaya Dubrovka.

One way or another, collecting information bit by bit, she will one day register ownership of the plot. But that one, according to the most daring estimates, is worth a million and a half, and even if you try to sell it, that is, you still won’t be able to buy housing for three people. Therefore, Melnikova has no choice but to knock on doors in the administration.

The last time, according to Evgenia, they promised to move me to an apartment in a new building. Moreover, the resettlement should begin almost on February 15th. She doesn't really believe it. But there is still nothing more to do - just hope.