Ukraine opens first underground kindergarten in Kharkiv Oblast

The Mobil kindergarten can accommodate 260 children.

The underground facility includes eight classrooms, a medical station, a dining area, sanitary rooms and showers.

The kindergarten is also autonomous, with two independent power sources and backup generators. Safe passageways connect the shelter directly to the preschool buildings, allowing children and staff to reach it without going outside.

Particular attention was paid to creating a barrier-free environment. The facility is equipped with elevators, lifts and threshold-free routes, while conditions have also been created for children with disabilities and other people with limited mobility.

Ukraine allocated dedicated state funding for shelters at preschool institutions for the first time this year, Deputy Education and Science Minister for Preschool Education Anastasiia Konovalova said.

The total funding amounts to more than UAH 972 million ($21.9 million).

“Our task is to support communities facing the highest security risks and help as many kindergartens as possible resume in-person education, because the opportunity to learn and develop in a safe educational environment is extremely important for every child,” Konovalova said.

Underground kindergarten projects are currently being implemented in nine Ukrainian oblasts: Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv and Kherson.

Communities facing the highest security risks were given priority in the selection process.