This first Euromech Colloquium to be held in Kiev attracted 74 participants including 19 from outside the USSR: from Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Despite unexpected absences or delays for some participants due to travel difficulties, a full programme of talks, each followed by a lively discussion, was maintained throughout the entire three and a half days of the Colloquium. In addition considerable space was set aside for posters, which ensured that the discussions were not confined to the lecture theatre. The colloquium was dominated by two major areas of interest: scattering of acoustic waves by elastic shells or bodies, and problems of surface gravity-wave diffraction. Also presented was a selection of widely varying topics within the general area of wave diffraction. A summary of the presented talks is given below.