Ukraine to build first underground school in Kharkiv: Official
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Kharkiv has organised some 60 separate classrooms throughout its metro stations before the school year that started Sept 1.
PHOTO: AFP
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KYIV – Ukraine’s eastern metropolis of Kharkiv will build the country’s first fully underground school to shield pupils from Russia’s frequent bomb and missile attacks, the city’s mayor said.
“Such a shelter will enable thousands of Kharkiv children to continue their safe face-to-face education even during missile threats,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
While many schools in the front-line regions have been forced to teach online throughout the war, Kharkiv organised about 60 separate classrooms throughout its metro stations before the school year started on Sept 1, creating space for more than 1,000 children to study there.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, had a population of more than 1.4 million before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Parts of the city lie less than 35km from the Russian border, and it has been subject to near-daily Russian rocket and missile attacks that can hit before residents can reach shelters.
In the 24 hours leading to Monday, a civilian man died, and several houses were damaged as a result of Russia’s shelling and rocket attacks, according to Mr Oleh Synyehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region.
The war, which has no end in sight, has killed thousands and displaced millions of civilians.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Education said 363 educational institutions have been destroyed and nearly 3,800 damaged throughout the country.
The new school will “meet the most modern regulatory requirements for protective structures”, Mr Terekhov said.
It was not immediately clear how big the school will be, or when it will open. REUTERS
