In Ukraine, only 11% of educational institutions have their own bomb shelters

In Ukraine, only 11% of educational institutions have their own bomb shelters. Serhiy Kruk, the head of the State Service for Emergency Situations, announced this on July 21.

Therefore, according to him, the main part of the students is planned to be protected in the simplest shelters. Given the realities, only 23% of the countryʼs educational institutions are ready for the start of offline learning today, Kruk added.

The head of the State Emergency Service called for increasing the pace of training of educational institutions and speeding up inspections of bomb shelters.

"This will also be facilitated by the decision of the Ministry of Education and local authorities regarding which educational institutions and in which territories they plan to work in the usual mode, and which ones — remotely," Kruk emphasized. In particular, this applies to Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, and partly to Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts.

• The government recommends that schools start learning in an offline format from September 1, and universities, except for the first courses, from August 15. Local authorities should organize training on the evacuation of students to shelters and safety lessons, create a visualization of the way to shelters, and provide all the conditions for staying and studying in shelters. Also, every educational institution should have a panic button in case of an emergency.