Ukraine opens first underground kindergarten in Kharkiv Oblast, with 260 children to attend
The first underground kindergarten in Ukraine, Mobil, has opened in the Pisochyn hromada A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories in Kharkiv Oblast.
Source: Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
Details: The facility can accommodate 260 children and allows them to attend classes in person while staying safe during air-raid warnings.
The underground educational space has eight classrooms. It also has a medical room, canteen, toilets and showers.
The shelter has an autonomous power supply provided by two independent sources of electricity and backup generators. The protective structure is connected to the kindergarten buildings by safe passageways, allowing children and staff to reach the shelter without going outside during an air-raid warning.
Particular attention was paid to accessibility. The kindergarten has lifts and hoists, step-free routes, and facilities for children with disabilities and other people with reduced mobility.
Anastasiia Konovalova, Deputy Minister of Education and Science for Pre-school Education, said, "This year, the state has for the first time allocated separate funding for equipping shelters in pre-school education institutions. Our task is to support hromadas facing the highest security risks and help as many kindergartens as possible resume in-person education."
The underground kindergarten was jointly funded from the state, regional and local budgets. In 2026, the state allocated a separate subsidy for the first time to equip shelters in pre-school education institutions. The total funding for such projects amounts to more than UAH 972 million (US$21.8 million).
Projects of this kind are currently being implemented in nine oblasts: Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv and Kherson.
Background: In 2025, an underground school for 1,000 students was opened in Zaporizhzhia, where kindergarten children will also be able to attend classes.
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