Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has damaged every seventh Ukrainian school and completely destroyed 400 educational institutions, Deputy Education Minister Yevhen Kudriavets said on Feb. 25.

More than 3,500 educational institutions have been damaged, and the cost to repair these buildings is estimated to be almost $14 billion, according to Kudriavets.

According to the UN, only one third of Ukrainian children are able to attend schools in person. Roughly another third learn online and another third learn in a hybrid approach due to the threat of attacks.

Educational institutions in areas that are close to hostilities remain shut as schools are often a target for Russian forces. Four people were killed in October 2023 when Russian forces attacked a school in Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

A Russian drone attack on a school in Romny in Sumy Oblast in August 2023 killed a school principal, deputy principal, secretary, and librarian, who were in the building to prepare for the new school year.

The Aug. 23 Russian attack killed four people and injured four others, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported.

Read also: Generation of Fire: Young Ukrainians forced to survive first, plan for future later

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