Lithuania to Build Bomb Shelter Schools in Ukraine’s Frontline Regions

In an interview with Ukrinform, Artūras Žarnovskis, Head of the Lithuanian Co-create Future in Ukraine programme, unveiled an extensive project aiming to establish six subterranean schools across Mykolaiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions, with a probable addition in Kharkiv region by year-end.

“Special bomb shelter schools, suitable for wartime, will be built there. In peaceful times they can be used as multi-purpose rooms: for sports, entertainment etc,” Žarnovskis said.

He specified that the schools will be built in concrete locations in the six regions, with five of them in Mykolaiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Chernihiv. The location of the sixth facility will most likely be Kharkiv region.

“We’re starting to build large shelter schools in these regions. They will be constructed from scratch in places where there have sadly been no shelters at all. Among other things, safety conditions will provide for protection from radiation as well,” Žarnovskis noted, adding that construction might be finished as early as this year.

Žarnovskis stressed the importance of such projects since due to the full-scale Russian invasion and the COVID-19 pandemic there are “fourth grade students in some schools who have never been in school physically”, despite the importance of schools for children’s socialisation.