Ukraine to build underground school in Kharkiv The school will become a bomb shelter, allowing children to continue safe full-time education even during Russian air raids.

BY SERGE HAVRYLETS 02/10/2023

Ukraine’s first underground school will be built in Kharkiv (eastern Ukraine), the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, announced on 1 October.

The underground school will protect children from Russian missile and kamikaze drone attacks. Kharkiv’s mayor promised that despite the Russian invasion, the city’s administration would not cut spending on education.

“Kharkiv will continue to invest in education. We will not cut spending on education this year or next, despite the lack of budget funds and the rather difficult task of balancing the local budget with the existing deficit,” Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.

The underground school will become a shelter, allowing thousands of Kharkiv children to continue safe full-time education even during Russian air raids, Ihor Terekhov said. According to Terekhov, the underground school will meet “the most modern regulatory requirements for protective structures.”

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city after Kyiv, is located less than 40 kilometers from the Russo-Ukrainian border. Russia’s Armed Forces attack the city regularly with missiles, kamikaze drones, and cluster munitions, destroying critical civilian infrastructure and residential buildings.

Before the full-scale Russian invasion, 1.4 million people lived in Kharkiv. At least half of Kharkiv’s residents have left the city searching for a safer place to live.

Kharkiv was a major target for Russian forces during their advance in the northeastern part of Ukraine before the Ukrainian Army pushed Russian invaders back to the Russo-Ukrainian border in the fall of 2022. The city remains under intermittent Russian fire.