In Ukraine's Kharkiv, 20,000 children go underground to study

"You don't have to think about the war, it's a safe place, and you only think about teaching children, not the problems that surround us. Safety is the mantra even the youngest students repeat here. I like studying here, like meeting friends, because it's safe."

"Since 2022, more than 100 children and about 3,000 civilian adults have been killed by Russian artillery, multiple-launch rocket systems, drones and missiles in the Kharkiv region. In recent days, a Russian missile struck yet another apartment building, killing a nine-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl along with nine adults."

"His school is right inside the Oleksandr Maselsky station on Kharkiv's southeastern outskirts, a stone's throw away from roaring trains and hurrying commuters. It used to be a draughty hallway on the way out of the station that closed down three decades ago. Now, it is a small metroschool with flimsy white plastic doors that let in and out almost 2,000 schoolchildren and preschoolers who study in four cramped classrooms in shifts seven days a week."

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city located 40km from the Russian border, has transformed subway stations into functioning schools to shield students from ongoing Russian military assaults. The Oleksandr Maselsky station now houses a metroschool serving nearly 2,000 schoolchildren and preschoolers across four classrooms operating in shifts seven days weekly. Since 2022, Russian artillery, rockets, drones, and missiles have killed over 100 children and approximately 3,000 civilian adults in the Kharkiv region. Air raid sirens sound multiple times daily, with recent threats including advanced Russian drones equipped with fiber optic technology resistant to electronic jamming. Teachers and students emphasize safety as the primary benefit of underground education, allowing focus on learning away from constant bombardment threats.

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