Fearing Russian air strikes – Kharkiv builds underground schools against Putin

Despite the war, Kharkiv is striving to create a safe learning environment for children. UNICEF also wants to support the troubled city in this.

Kharkiv – In the face of ongoing Russian artillery attacks, Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, has decided to move more classes for its students underground. This unprecedented measure is intended to protect children and ensure their education in times of Ukraine War contribute.

Fearing Russian air strikes – Kharkiv builds underground schools

Since the invasion began in early 2022, the eastern Ukrainian city has been shelled almost daily by Russian forces. As a result, those responsible have now been forced to take special protective measures.

Mayor Ihor Terechow explains to the KyivPost: “After the successful launch of the first project, the construction of an underground school, we have started the construction of three more facilities in Kharkiv.” Terekhov added that the city is providing its own funds to implement these projects as quickly as possible.

Protected from Russian attacks in metro station: Four classrooms for 500 students

A similar trend can be observed in other front-line cities in Ukraine. For example, the authorities in the Donetsk region are planning to build underground sections in hospitals to protect against increasingly intense Russian attacks.

An example of the current efforts in Kharkiv, where there are already underground maternity wards, are the new classrooms at the “Imeni Maselskogo” metro station. Four more classrooms for around 500 students are to be built here by September 1, as the Kharkiv city administration told the portal Kharkiv Today announced.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov recently gave UNICEF representatives a tour of the facilities and stressed the need for more such measures as space for educational facilities in the city is becoming scarce. Elmi Lucia, director of UNICEF’s global office for humanitarian programs in Ukraine, promised further support.

Kharkiv’s underground schools in the Ukraine war: great interest, high occupancy

Last year, classrooms were set up at five metro stations: “Peremoha”, “Universytet”, “Metrobudivnykiv”, “Traktornyi Zavod” and “Akademika Pavlova”. Despite initial doubts about an extension of these measures in November 2023, the project was finally pushed forward due to high demand from parents and the almost full utilization of existing capacities.

In April 2024, the head of the Kharkiv City Education Department, Olga Demenko, announced that the need for additional rooms in the metro schools still exists, as by that time 185 more students had already expressed interest.