Forced to protect students from the threat of Russian short-range hypersonic missiles, the city Kharkiv of eastern Ukraine he built dozens of classrooms in subway stations so that some students can return to lifelong learning.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, had a population of more than 1.4 million before Russia invaded in February 2022.

Parts of the city are less than 32 kilometers from the Russian border.

Its northern suburbs have suffered enormous damage from the war.

Schools in Kharkiv have been forced to switch to remote education during the war as some Russian missiles can hit the city in less than a minute — not enough time to get students to shelters.

Yesterday, Tuesday the mayor of the city Ihor Terekhov said that 60 classrooms have been set up in the metro stations in Kharkiv ahead of the start of the new school year in September, creating space for lifelong learning for more than 1,000 children.

“Children will be able to socialize with each other, find a common language, communicate. I absolutely support it,” says Irina Loboda, the mother of a student outside a metro station in the city center where school classrooms have been built.