Flooding of the subway in Kyiv. The Kyiv City Administration blames poor construction, the prosecutorʼs office blames improper operation

The Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) says that the flooding of the subway, which forced the closure of part of the "blue" line, was caused by poor construction. The Metropolitan Prosecutorʼs Office claims the opposite — the flooding occurred due to improper operation.

On July 23, two officials of "Kyiv Metro" were declared about suspicion due to the flooding of the tunnels between "Demiivska" and "Lybidska" stations.

According to the investigation, their improper performance of duties led to the depressurization of the tunnel, the appearance of cracks in its walls, and subsequent flooding.

What does KCSA say?

On the same day, KCSA denied the conclusions of the prosecutorʼs office. They said that according to their expertise, the subway construction documentation contains low-quality design solutions, and during construction, the tunnel structure was built in a low-quality way on the section between the "Demiivska" and "Lybidska" stations.

The agency cites research, according to which no chemical soil stabilization was performed during the construction of the tunnel. Also, during construction, they apparently deviated from the design decisions: the dimensions of the tunnel frame tubing and part of the tray blocks do not correspond to the design ones.

At the same time, the examination of the KCSA states that all necessary work on the maintenance and operation of the tunnel was carried out in full. The department considers the suspicion from the prosecutorʼs office to be "political pressure."

The Kyiv Prosecutorʼs Office denies the statement of the KCSA

On July 24, the prosecutorʼs office announced that it has an expert opinion that refutes the statement of the KCSA about substandard construction. The department claims that this examination names the cause of the tunnelʼs destruction as its improper operation.

"The expert examined the quality of the construction of the tunnel, and no violations and any deviations that led to the depressurization of this tunnel were found," the prosecutorʼs office said.

Law enforcement officials also say that in the period from March 2011 to December 2023, KCSA took measures to prevent water from entering the tunnel without involving sufficiently qualified specialists.

The prosecutorʼs office added that Kyiv officials did not provide them with any expertise that would confirm poor construction.

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On July 24, KCSA published the results of the examination. According to them:

• according to the project, the tunnel frame should be operated at a significantly lower level of groundwater;
• the frame of the tunnel was constructed in poor quality with a violation of the tolerances for the installation of the rings;
• the stiffness of the tunnel is lower than the design due to the use of wall blocks instead of tray blocks (reduced thickness and lack of ribs).

The department considers these factors to be the reason for the flooding of the subway tunnel. KCSA promised to hand over the documents to law enforcement officers.

Closure of the subway in Kyiv

On December 8, 2023, the Kyiv City State Administration informed about the closure of the “Demiivska”, “Holosiivska”, “Vasylkivska”, “Exhibition Center”, “Ipodrom”, and “Teremky” metro stations.

From December 13, the shuttle traffic started on the "blue" branch of the metro in the area of closed stations. Meanwhile, the Podilska Prosecutorʼs Office is investigating official negligence due to the flooding of the subway on the Obolonsko-Teremkivska line.

The acting head of the metro Viktor Vyhivskyi said in June that trains on the "blue" branch of the metro will be launched in the early fall of 2024.