Kharkiv to build Ukraine’s first underground school to protect children

A school in a metro station in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The city is to build Ukraine’s first fully underground schools to protect children from Russian bomb and missile attacks. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The Guardian

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 has 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.