The Cabinet of Ministers has made a decision to allocate over 2 billion UAH for the arrangement of shelters for general secondary education institutions in 30 Ukrainian communities. This was announced by the Minister of Education and Science, Oksen Lisovyi, and Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
This is reported by Finway
Support for Safety in Education
During the meeting, officials discussed the safety of participants in the educational process and the continuation of the “New Ukrainian School” reform. Special emphasis was placed on communities where the security situation remains the most challenging due to constant shelling and threats to the lives of children and educators.
Oksen Lisovyi clarified that 1.94 billion UAH will be directed towards the implementation of 28 projects in communities with heightened safety risks. An additional 100.2 million UAH has been allocated for the construction of shelters for two military lyceums in Lviv and Vinnytsia regions.
“1.94 billion UAH will be directed towards the implementation of 28 projects in communities where the security situation remains the most challenging. The issue of protection in these regions requires urgent solutions. Separate funding has been allocated for the construction of shelters for two military lyceums in Lviv and Vinnytsia regions – for this, 100.2 million UAH has been allocated,” the minister specified.
The main focus is on supporting military lyceums and communities with the highest security risks, as well as on projects that have a high level of readiness and can be implemented quickly. The minister also reminded that the government had previously allocated 231.1 million UAH to local budgets for 22 projects, where work has been completed by more than 60%.
Funding and the Threat of Russian Shelling
At the same time, the approval of funding for communities with high and moderate levels of risk is ongoing. According to Yulia Svyrydenko, in 2026, 5 billion UAH is planned for the arrangement of shelters in schools across the country.
The relevance of such decisions is dictated by the constant attacks from the Russian Federation. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russian troops have regularly struck Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure, using missiles, drones, and other types of weaponry. These strikes have repeatedly been classified by the Ukrainian authorities and international organizations as war crimes.
Systematic shelling of life-support systems, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions aims to deprive the population of essential living conditions, which are signs of genocidal actions. During the full-scale war, Russia commits all kinds of crimes that may fall under the definition of genocide, including public calls for the destruction of Ukrainians, targeted attacks on infrastructure, persecution of pro-Ukrainian individuals in occupied territories, and the deportation of children.
According to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted in 1948, member states are obliged to prevent acts of genocide and punish them in both wartime and peacetime. Genocide is defined as intentional actions aimed at the complete or partial destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
The leadership of Russia continues to deny targeted strikes on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, despite clear evidence of the destruction of schools, hospitals, energy facilities, and other vital institutions.