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- Ramp diplomacy: how can people with disabilities move out of a building without an elevator
Ramp diplomacy: how can people with disabilities move out of a building without an elevator
In Volzhsky, Volgograd region, the mother of an 11-year-old boy with cerebral palsy was forced through court to remove a wheelchair from the stairwell and pay 20 thousand rubles. After the media reports, the decision was canceled, but there were no fewer problems — a woman who herself has health problems has to carry her son to the fifth floor every day because there is no elevator or ramps in the entrance. This is a typical situation for people with disabilities who live in an old housing estate," a Moscow resident told a similar story. Izvestia found out how those in need can move to another house or force the management company to install a ramp.
What was the mother of a child with cerebral palsy fined for?
43-year-old Natalia Burtolik from Volzhsky first became known in December 2025. Then the Volgograd media reported that the court fined the woman 20,000 rubles for storing a wheelchair in the stairwell. Her 11-year-old son with cerebral palsy needs a means of rehabilitation. The family lives on the fifth floor of an old building without an elevator. The woman left the heavy wheelchair on the second floor, and then picked up the child and went up to the fifth floor. I had to do everything on my own: my husband left the family two years ago, and all my relatives are already elderly. And Natalia herself has a prosthetic leg after an accident in which she got 21 years ago.
The woman was trying to deal with the desperate situation she found herself in on her own, and believed that she would be helped to move out of an apartment located too high. Unsuccessfully, appeals to the Criminal Code, the city administration, and the prosecutor's office did not help. On the contrary, in Natalia Burtolik's actions, the Housing Maintenance Management Management Company saw violations of the Housing Code and fire safety regulations — it was this company that sued.
The fact is that the neighbors didn't like the wheelchair left in the stairwell, and they complained to the Criminal Code. The management company claimed that, in addition, a request was received from the Ministry of Emergency Situations: its employees conducted an inspection and issued a warning.
Natalia noticed that she was obliged to remove the wheelchair, but no one suggested a way to take her to the fifth floor. The folding ramp cannot be mounted above the ground floor due to the old layout, and no other options were offered.
The woman was nevertheless released from paying the fine — it became known in March. After the media reports, the prosecutor's office filed an appeal and overturned the city court's decision. The management company does not agree with this, because the wheelchair is still standing in the entrance and violates fire safety regulations.
Natalia considers moving to the ground floor to be the only realistic option. However, she does not have the funds to buy a new apartment, even if the old one is sold.
The Housing and Communal Services Management Company explained to Izvestia that they did not impose a fine on Natalia Burtolik for storing a wheelchair in the entrance of an apartment building: court costs were collected from the woman. Indeed, the decision of the Volga City Court says that she will be charged a state fee of 20,000 rubles and her obligation to eliminate fire safety violations in the entrance by removing the wheelchair.
Answering the question about how to deal with the problem of women, the Housing and Communal Services Management Company stressed that the decision on the reconstruction of an apartment building is the competence of the owners. It is alleged that the Criminal Code has repeatedly tried to organize a general meeting on this issue, but no decision has been taken. And it is reconstruction that is needed: technically, it is impossible to install a folding or lifting ramp to the top floor, the company said.
The Volzhsky city administration reported that they were keeping Natalia's problem under control. However, officials cannot help in this case in any way. Back in December, the municipal commission for the inspection of living quarters for the disabled conducted an inspection of the woman's apartment and entrance. The examination confirmed that it was impossible to make a ramp to the fifth floor. Then the question arose about the reconstruction or major repairs of the house: it was, apparently, about the possibility of installing an outdoor elevator.
"The conclusion of April 14 showed that the reconstruction or overhaul of an apartment building in order to accommodate the needs of a disabled person is economically impractical," the administration told Izvestia.
The issue of the possible relocation of the family to an apartment on the ground floor was also considered. But since the woman is the owner of the apartment, there is no mechanism for direct exchange or extraordinary provision of municipal housing. "The administration is ready to consider all legal ways to improve the situation," however, the response to Izvestia does not specify which ways still remain.
The problem concerns the whole country
Chairman of the All—Russian Society of the Disabled, State Duma deputy Mikhail Terentyev told Izvestia that the problem with people with disabilities who are forced to climb to the upper floors of buildings without elevators has become systemic - we are talking about tens of thousands of people with limited mobility. Existing solutions are often poorly implemented if the problem of a person moving in a wheelchair is treated indifferently, he noted.
— The same electric lifts (platforms) that are installed in existing homes are also a huge problem. Their connection and launch are often delayed for years due to an unresolved issue: whose balance sheet they will be on and who will take over their maintenance," the parliamentarian explained.
Eleonora Kazantseva, the mother of a child in a wheelchair, faced a similar problem in Moscow, in the Severnoye Izmailovo district, in a house built in 1970. She needs to overcome "only" six steps in front of the elevator, but they are so steep that it turns out to be very difficult: both the wheelchair is heavy and the child is growing - Eleanor is practically unable to lift her daughter on her own now. Even the folding ramp is too steep to make life easier for a person with a disability. Her daughter has already graduated from the ninth grade, enrolled in college and is studying online, but she cannot leave the house on her own.
The Muscovite woman filed an appeal to the Northern Izmailovo district council to solve the problem, but it did not help.
— The commission came, measured everything, measured the entrances and exits. The technician who was doing this immediately said that it would be difficult to do something. Then they invited me to the office and told me that they couldn't do anything. They sent my appeal further, to the prefecture of the Eastern Administrative District," the woman told Izvestia. — I called them, explained the situation, but they didn't even find the incoming call number. That was the end of it, and I never got a response from them.
Alexandra Litus, Chairman of the Resource Foundation, confirms that she has heard many similar stories from her students.
— Many people live in old buildings without elevators: because of this, moms, dads, grandparents are forced to carry their children and grandchildren in their arms. It's hard even when the children are small, and it's really difficult with teenagers," she said.
Moreover, even the very fact of having an elevator in a building is not always equal to the opportunity to use it comfortably, the editorial interlocutor emphasized, because often the dimensions of wheelchairs are wider than the elevator aisles.
— The situation has been improving locally over the past decade, but these are usually private initiatives. It would be great if the pace of improvements became more rapid," Alexandra Litus noted.
How to achieve a solution to the problem
The state is obliged to create a barrier-free environment for people with disabilities, and federal laws "give the right to require the authorities to adapt the entrance or relocation of a disabled person," said Andrei Ponyaev, an expert from the Popular Front, chairman of the Moscow branch of the NGO for Consumer Protection Narodny Kontrol, author of the practical methodological guide "Barrier-free environment in an apartment building."
The norms that determine what kind of assistance people with disabilities can receive in such cases are fixed in the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 07/09/2016 No. 649 and can work, Mikhail Terentyev believes. He outlined three steps that should help a disabled person solve their problem.
Step one: application and examination. To begin with, a person with a disability or his family should contact the city administration. Based on the request, a special municipal, regional or federal commission conducts a survey of the residential premises: it examines documentary characteristics, extracts from the medical and social expertise, and the Social Fund of Russia. A visual inspection of the living quarters and common property in an apartment building is carried out. An obligatory part of the investigation of the situation is a conversation with the applicant to find out exactly which devices are needed.
Step two: a conclusion is made about the possibility of adaptation. There are options here — if a technical possibility exists, then a decision is made to renovate the house or install a ramp.
By the way, you can make the same request to the management company: submit a written application there, attach a disability certificate and an individual rehabilitation program (IPRA). If the ramp is installed at the expense of a budget or personal money, the consent of the neighbors is not required. The owners' meeting is held only if the installation is carried out at the general expense.
— If you are refused, complain about the unjustified refusal to the prosecutor's office or the state housing inspectorate of your region. The court is the last instance. If none of these structures helped, file a lawsuit against the Criminal Code or the administration demanding that the ramp be installed," Mikhail Terentyev recommended.
It also happens that there is simply no technical possibility, as in the case of the house in Volzhsky, where the stairwell is too narrow. It is important that the refusal must be confirmed by an act of commission examination. But even in this case, a disabled person should not be left without help — you can require the installation of another lifting device: for example, a tracked or vertical lift.
If it is really impossible to help, or the commission considers solving the problem to be "economically impractical," it concludes that the housing is unsuitable for habitation.
Step three: providing a new place of residence. As soon as the housing is declared unsuitable, the disabled person has the right to receive housing under a social rental agreement.
— However, there is an important condition here: you must be registered as needing better housing conditions and be recognized as poor, — Mikhail Terentyev added.
The press service of the Russian Ministry of Labor clarified that in some regions of the Russian Federation, the list of social services includes assistance in lifting or lowering people with limited mobility and wheelchairs up stairs.
— The individual rehabilitation and habilitation program indicates whether a child with a disability needs help moving around, entering and exiting buildings, and boarding vehicles. If a person with a disability requires permanent or partial assistance, they are provided with support when receiving rehabilitation services in accordance with the order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia No. 363n, the ministry explained to Izvestia.
At the same time, accompanying a disabled person "includes assistance at the entrance / exit of the organization, boarding / disembarking from transport and moving around the territory." But the issues of adapting housing for people with disabilities to the provision of social services are not related to the department and are related to housing management, the Ministry of Labor added.
How to solve the problem in the regions
The solution to the problem often differs depending on the region. The expert of the direction "Popular Front. Analyst Elena Gladkova points to the experience of Tyumen: in 2026, a program was launched there to relocate people with disabilities from unsuitable housing.
— On our initiative, a special working group has been set up in the government. If the municipal commission finds the apartment of a disabled person unsuitable for living, the city allocates subsidies for the purchase of adapted housing. New housing must meet accessibility requirements — have wide doorways, a comfortable bathroom, and an accessible porch or entryway. With successful implementation, the experience is planned to be extended to the entire Tyumen Region," she told Izvestia.
To solve the problem, it is also necessary to tighten supervision during the construction of new houses: prohibit projects and new construction without an accessible entrance group at ground level or without a gentle ramp, Mikhail Terentyev urges. During the reconstruction, it is important to provide a wide entrance to the elevators with the sound of the floors and the direction of its movement. In the old fund, we are looking for solutions with lifting platforms and walking electric trolleys.
— I am sure that every subject of the Russian Federation should have regulations for relocation to affordable housing on the basis of barter agreements in case it is impossible to accommodate a specific person with a disability, — summed up the deputy of the State Duma.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation. No response had been received at the time of publication.
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