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Executive Summary<\/h3>\n
As of the end of November 2025, Ukraine\u2019s educational infrastructure has suffered extensive damage. As a result of hostilities, 958 educational institutions have been damaged, and 400 schools have been completely destroyed. More than 20% of the territory remains under temporary occupation by Russia, and the condition of schools in those areas is unknown.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2025, out of more than 12,000 schools across Ukraine, 8,420 operated offline. However, the situation in frontline communities differs significantly from the national average \u2014 nearly half of students there (49%) study exclusively online.<\/span><\/p>\n The current situation in frontline regions confirms that without safe educational infrastructure, comfortable spaces for in-person learning and social interaction, and autonomous energy supply for schools, a stable education process becomes severely constrained \u2014 and in some cases, impossible. As a result, the less frequently students are able to attend offline classes, the deeper and more tangible their learning losses become.<\/span><\/p>\n This brief compiles data on the security situation and learning conditions in savED\u2019s focus regions: Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv regions. These data form the basis for selecting educational, social, and infrastructure solutions aimed at restoring full-fledged offline learning for children.<\/span><\/p>\n The security situation in de-occupied and border areas remains poor. Even when shelters are available in schools, local authorities often prohibit offline learning due to the constant threat of shelling. As a result, nearly half of students in these areas study exclusively online. According to the savED study \u201cWar, Education, and Social Capital,\u201d 49% of students in frontline regions fell into this category as of spring 2025, while in other regions the figure reached 90%.<\/span><\/p>\n Lessons lost due to air raid alerts, imperfect distance learning, shelling, and power outages all add to the challenges of mastering the school curriculum and negatively affect children\u2019s psychological well-being.<\/span><\/p>\n To restore offline education in these regions, we take a comprehensive approach<\/strong>: equipping temporary learning spaces and shelters, opening EduHive learning centers where children can attend lessons and extracurricular activities, continuing learning recovery programs, and supporting youth initiatives through the UActive project. Each solution is tailored to the capacity of the community and its partners.<\/span><\/p>\n To better understand the educational needs of vulnerable regions, we continue to study the impact of war on education and the challenges it creates.<\/span><\/p>\n With the start of the 2025\u20132026 school year, shelling in Chernihiv region intensified, along with the frequency and duration of air raid alerts. According to representatives of educational institutions surveyed by savED, the number of hours spent with children in shelters is now higher than last year.<\/span><\/p>\n Despite the overall trend toward a return to offline learning, the share of children studying online or in a blended format in Chernihiv region remains high.<\/span><\/p>\n The ability to organize in-person learning is also affected by strikes on critical infrastructure. In particular, in the Horodnia community<\/strong>, a strike on an electrical substation caused prolonged power and water outages, preventing stable offline classes. Some schools also report enemy drones appearing directly over cities. While this has not resulted in large-scale damage to schools, the potential threat alone increases parental anxiety when children are outside the home.<\/span><\/p>\n Among the factors complicating distance learning, educators cited communication challenges with students \u2014 most often due to unstable internet access during power outages. This creates difficulties both when using digital learning platforms and during online classes.<\/span><\/p>\n Not all educational institutions have backup power for blackouts. Some schools have generators or charging stations provided by charitable organizations, which helps mitigate outages. In some cases, institutions have multiple power sources (a generator and an EcoFlow system).<\/span><\/p>\n In the new school year, approximately 80,000 children enrolled in schools across Sumy region, including 5,000 first-graders \u2014 1,306 fewer students than last year.<\/span><\/p>\nKey Challenges<\/h4>\n
The main barriers to learning are the security situation and the energy crisis. In the fall of 2025, an increase in both the number of attacks and the duration of air raid alerts was recorded. This has led to the following consequences:<\/span><\/h6>\n
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More on the Situation in Frontline Regions<\/h4>\n
Chernihiv Region<\/em><\/h5>\n
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Sumy Region<\/em><\/h5>\n
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Mykolaiv Region<\/em><\/h5>\n
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Zaporizhzhia Region<\/em><\/h5>\n
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Dnipropetrovsk Region<\/em><\/h5>\n
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Kharkiv Region<\/em><\/h5>\n
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Systemic Needs and the Foundation\u2019s Response<\/h4>\n
To restore children\u2019s access to education, the savED team takes a comprehensive approach. Our core areas of work include:<\/span><\/h6>\n
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Main Content<\/h3>\n
For children, school is first and foremost about live interaction with friends, the opportunity to gain new knowledge, develop skills and talents, grow, and enjoy meaningful leisure time. Today, however, access to classrooms is obstructed by air raid alerts and the destruction of educational infrastructure caused by the war. This is especially evident in frontline communities, where the need for in-person education is greatest.<\/span><\/h6>\n
Where educational institutions have been damaged or completely destroyed, returning to in-person learning is the most challenging.<\/h6>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/saved.foundation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/slide-1.png\")
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Despite the destruction, in some areas schools are returning to in-person learning for the first time in four years.<\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/saved.foundation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/slide-2.png\")
<\/p>\nIn frontline regions, children attend in-person classes far less frequently than their peers in other regions.<\/h6>\n
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This is why frontline communities remain a core focus for savED.<\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Our goal is singular \u2014 to ensure children can learn and interact in person, enjoy diverse leisure opportunities, and see that their communities continue to live despite the destruction and hardships of wartime.<\/h6>\n
Security and Blackouts<\/h4>\n
In the fall, we observed the following trends in frontline regions:<\/span><\/h6>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/saved.foundation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/slide-3.png\")
<\/h5>\nChernihiv region is one of the de-occupied regions bordering Russia and is under constant air attack.<\/h6>\n
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In some communities, air raid alerts last more than 20 hours \u2014 and sometimes an entire day.<\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/saved.foundation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/slide-4.png\")
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Of the 293 local educational institutions*:<\/h6>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/saved.foundation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/slide-5.png\")
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