300 Ukrainian Children Killed or Injured in Two Months as Strikes Force Kids to Study in Bunkers

At least 300 Ukrainian children were killed or injured during June and July, according to UNICEF Norway, which warned that "much of childhood is being lived underground" [240113]. The figure covers only two months of the ongoing war, underscoring the heavy toll on young people [240113].

As schools across Ukraine opened for the new academic year on September 1, repeated air raid alerts in Kyiv and other cities disrupted classes and sent children into shelters, sometimes for hours [239816]. On September 3, one fourth-grade class in Kyiv completed just one lesson — math — before alerts sent students into a cramped underground shelter [239816].

"The shelter is not equipped for studying," said Olya, a mother who asked to be identified by first name only. She showed a photo of children squeezed together underground. "Even if they wanted to continue classes, they wouldn't be able to. It's too noisy" [239816].

Other subjects were assigned as homework, and children had almost no breaks — when an alert ended, they rushed back to the classroom to make up lost lesson time [239816]. Recently, air raid alerts have sounded in Kyiv as many as 10 times a day, lasting more than five hours on some days [239816].

Even schools with shelters equipped for classes struggle to maintain normal learning. Ira, whose daughter attends a school in central Kyiv, said shelter lessons are stressful. "She cannot hear the teacher properly," Ira said. "And there are too many people in one small space" [239816].

Ukrainian children have experienced well over four years of interrupted education since Russia's full-scale invasion [239816]. Russian attacks have damaged many schools, forcing them to close temporarily, extend vacations, or switch to remote learning [239816].

In Kyiv alone since February 2022, 314 educational facilities have been damaged, according to city authorities, including at least 107 so far in 2026 [239816]. Strikes on printing and logistics facilities this summer reportedly destroyed nearly 1.2 million textbooks — almost 9 percent of those printed for the 2026-2027 academic year [239816].

The coming months could bring further disruption. The Russian government has threatened to continue attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure [239816]. Such attacks during the 2025-2026 winter caused prolonged electricity and heating outages, forcing many schools to close and making online learning difficult [239816].

Russia should end unlawful attacks on civilians and civilian objects in Ukraine and take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian harm, while Ukrainian authorities, with international support, should ensure schools have shelters equipped for holding classes, backup power, and other resources needed to help children learn safely [239816].