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Text: Dariia Svystukha
Illustration: Maryna Kizilova
The old school basement is thick with the scent of damp and dust. Stale air presses beneath the low ceilings. Somewhere, water drips, and every footstep sends echoes rippling through the gloom.
Before February 2022, most Ukrainian basements were little more than cluttered storerooms. Anything unwanted upstairs found its way down here: battered bookcases, broken desks and chairs, stacks of forgotten textbooks. People rarely lingered, slipping in just long enough to abandon another box. Then the war arrived, and these neglected spaces became lifelines – school basements transformed into shelters.
Teachers, parents, and children eagerly worked together to overhaul the basements. They removed piles of junk, scrubbed and whitewashed the walls, and brought in benches or mattresses. Each task was carried out quickly, fueled by the urgent hope of getting through the next round of shelling.
In the spring of 2022, a kindergarten in Chernihiv cleared out its storage room of old furniture and turned it into a makeshift dormitory. As the city endured a partial siege, dozens found refuge here. They cooked meals for themselves and the soldiers at checkpoints, hunted for fuel, and kept their phones alive with car batteries.
At a Kyiv high school in Obolon, the basement had served as a shooting range for the past 40 years or so, but for the most part, it had been gathering dust. The school’s principal, Yevhen Poliakov, makes no secret of the fact that the school’s shelter has turned into a storage shed. So, when it was actually needed in 2022, it took a week just to clear out the trash. At first, they did the basics; they set up benches, but there were no facilities for the children: no ventilation, no restrooms. There wasn’t even proper lighting.
This shelter became one of those requiring urgent repairs. Joint work began in late October 2022 – together, they agreed on a plan and started the renovation.
The roar of drills and the rumble of hammers echoed through the basement even during blackouts. We managed to complete everything planned: we installed a second emergency exit, renovated the hallway, restrooms, classrooms, and a space with a projector. Thanks to this refurbishment, we were able to expand the “usable” area of the basement. East Europe Foundation helped with equipment, board games, and heaters.
“We removed partitions, cut openings, ran wiring, and installed an exhaust fan,” said Yevhen Poliakov. “Every wire, every switch, they’re all new. And we did it properly. The children are happy. Now, during air raid alerts, the children aren’t stressed here. Not once has a single child cried, saying they want their mom because they’re scared.”
To avoid leaving the walls simply white, they decided to decorate them first with murals featuring Ukrainian symbols. Then the students took up the paint and brushes – the walls were adorned with Patron the dog, The Swallow’s Nest, “Mriia,” Motherland, and other images. During air raid alerts, the younger and middle grades entertain themselves by singing, playing board games, watching cartoons, or working with a psychologist. But most importantly, high school students do not stop studying.
After all, while it initially seemed that we just had to wait out the air raid in the shelter, it eventually became clear: air raid alerts are here to stay. If we stop studying every time a siren sounds, is that really education? That is why comfort has become a necessity.
In Kharkiv, students now attend school deep underground in metro stations. Passages and lobbies have become classrooms, complete with ventilation, heating, and lighting. Play areas, psychologists, and medical staff are available on site, and school buses bring children to these underground schools.
In total, over two thousand children attend the metro school. Nineteen modern classrooms have been created for them, some of which were equipped by East Europe Foundation. Even the rumbling of the train wheels cannot muffle the children’s voices.
The Safe School Program has reached 93 educational institutions in eight regions of Ukraine – in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Odesa regions, as well as in Kharkiv and Dnipro, where air raid sirens sound almost daily. Factors such as basement capacity and the number of students requiring shelter were taken into account. The team aimed to ensure that the word “shelter” would no longer be associated with a basement but would instead become a safe, well-lit space. In total, the Program provided shelters for over 34,000 students and more than 4,200 teachers.
Creating such shelters requires balancing state building codes, safety requirements, educational needs, and the human factor. Until 2023, shelter requirements were uniform for all types of institutions – 0.6 m² per person and multi-tiered “beds.” However, the rules updated after 2023 differentiated requirements for various sectors – education, healthcare, and others. Shelters must be more spacious, have two exits with wide, airtight doors, like an armored shield. The facility must have ventilation to provide fresh air for everyone and backup generators for power. The basic package for such a shelter includes everything necessary for comfort: from folding benches and pillows to first-aid kits, water, and food supplies. After all, if needed, the shelter must provide the means to stay inside for at least 48 hours.
In addition to technical requirements, psychologists are consulted during shelter setup to ensure children feel safe going down into them. Additionally, school basements have been equipped with televisions, projectors, games, and learning materials.
A commission comprising representatives from the State Emergency Service, the police, educators, and others is working on the shelter renovation project. Educators submit proposals regarding the potential use of the premises for learning, while emergency responders ensure compliance with sanitary conditions and technical requirements. The final design is developed based on these recommendations.
Oleh Masniak, technical coordinator of the Safe School Program, explains: Every project is implemented under financial and time constraints. On the ground, the program team worked with education departments and school principals who had basement inspection reports. These reports provided specific suggestions and comments regarding the use of the premises as basic shelters.
If the shelter is too small to accommodate all students, principals must find another shelter nearby. Or switch to hybrid learning.
“The distance to such shelters, if the building is multi-story, should be 300 meters, and for low-rise buildings, 500 meters. The Ministry of Education specified 100 meters in its internal documents. Another option is alternating in-person and online learning,” says Serhii Obodovskyi, head of the Civil Protection Events Organization Division at the State Emergency Service.
Third-Wave Shelters
After nearly four years of war, the meaning of a shelter is shifting. Once just a refuge, it is now a place where education continues, even during long alarms, lasting more than five or six hours. An increasing number of institutions want to continue classes underground. Near the front, basic shelters are enough, but schools hope to build full-scale bunkers that will protect even against radiation, says Serhii Obodovskyi. Still, not every school has the time or means to make this a reality.
“In many places, the management is not ready for the simplest shelters, because it is a big risk. But now there is a state subsidy: if an educational institution meets certain criteria, it can build separate anti-radiation shelters,” says Olha Moloko, lead manager of the humanitarian aid and reconstruction cluster of East Europe Foundation.
Currently, nearly 80% of educational institutions in Ukraine have basic shelters. This figure has risen from the low 13% since the full-scale invasion began. Ukrainian experts draw on the experience of Israel, Switzerland, and Finland and set an example for building codes. State Emergency Service expert Serhii Obodovskyi explains that Finland and Switzerland have 100% population shelter coverage, even though Switzerland has remained neutral in wars for over a century. Finnish law requires any building to include a shelter from the start. These shelters are regularly inspected and maintained in a state of readiness.
In Israel, schools, libraries, and gyms are equipped with “miklat” – public reinforced concrete shelters with thick walls capable of withstanding blast waves and debris. Meanwhile, Lithuania, also located near Russia, invited the Ukrainian State Emergency Service to consult with them on setting up shelters.
“Although Lithuania is a European country, it is post-Soviet,” said Serhii Obodovskyi. “Their experts invited us to consult on evacuation and sheltering the population to share our experience. Lithuania is currently at the stage we were at the war’s start – their shelters can accommodate only 10% of the population. They were not particularly concerned about this, but now they are using our experience with the simplest shelters.”
Ukraine and Finland have also established an international Shelter Coalition, through which the government plans to raise nearly 14 billion euros for basement conversions. This will help build 2,300 new structures by 2027 and another 3,000 by 2030. Together, they will develop a pilot project for third-wave shelters.
One day, Ukrainian schoolchildren will forget the words “air raid,” “shelter,” and “war.” But for now, they wait for the all-clear in the shelters, dreaming of a peaceful Ukraine, meeting friends without sirens, and traveling with their families. Their childhood continues even in wartime, amidst underground walls decorated with drawings.