UKRAINE, KHARKIV, Mar. 4 — Local authorities have built 17 schools with shelters in the Kharkiv oblast. Currently, some of them are operating, while others are still at the document-processing stage, said Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, during the briefing.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, all educational institutions in Kharkiv and the region have been operating online.

According to Syniehubov, nearly 20,000 children will be able to return to traditional education or blended studying.

Also, Kharkiv region officials are planning to build 17 more underground schools and “bring about 40,000 or even more schoolchildren into blended or offline learning by Sep. 1, 2026,” said Syniehubov.

The governor said authorities also plan to build underground kindergartens in the Pisochyn and Derhachi settlements in the Kharkiv district.

“The projects have already been developed but are currently awaiting funding, as the Ministry of Education has halved its spending in this area this year,” noted Syniehubov.

The first underground school was built in Kharkiv in April 2024, reported Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov.

On Sep. 1, 2025, three underground schools were opened in Kharkiv. Gwara Media journalists visited one of them in Saltivskyi district — the closest school to the border with Russia, according to the local authorities.

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