The list of destroyed objects, unfortunately, is not exhaustive, because the Russians, violating the laws and customs of war, continue shelling the civil infrastructure of east of Ukraine.
Russian Invaders Keep Ruining Schools in Donbas / photos: Donetsk and Luhanks regional administrations
«Vchasno» news agency received official information from the regional military administrations of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts regarding the civil infrastructure destroyed by the Russians.
During the year of full-scale invasion, the occupiers damaged 648 educational institutions in Donetsk oblast, and destroyed 69 of them. Among them 299 damaged and 16 destroyed kindergartens, 316 damaged and 31 destroyed schools; 41 damaged and 8 destroyed institutions of higher education.
For example, gymnasiums in Kurakhove, kindergarten in Siversk, Soledar Vocational Lyceum, Avdiivka schools. Reports of damage to educational institutions are published almost every day.
Destroyed schools in Avdiivka, Ivanopillya and Chasiv Yar of Donetsk oblast / photos: Donetsk regional administration
The Russian occupying forces are also destroying those educational institutions that have been carefully reconstructed and repaired in Donetsk oblast in recent years at the expense of the state budget and with the support of international donors. 79 such educational institutions were damaged and destroyed.
For example, at the end of February 2023, the Russians completely destroyed Avdiivka school No. 2, the reconstruction of which was carried out with the support of Lithuania. In September 2022, the enemy hit the Krasnohorivka main school. The «Huselky» kindergarten in Bakhmut was destroyed — in general, the entire infrastructure of the city was actually turned into ruins.
Avdiivka school before and after / photos: Vchasno and Donetsk regional administration
The «Huselky» kindergarten in Bakhmut — it can be seen destroyed on the photo from the visit of the Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov to the city
Krasnohorivka school / photo: Donetsk regional administration
It is difficult to establish the extent of the destruction in Mariupol, which the Russians destroyed with particular cruelty over the course of several months, and in which the traces of their crimes are now being covered. For example, it is known that the occupiers destroyed school No. 26, which was opened in 2021 after major renovation. It was considered one of the best educational institutions in the city and even in the whole of Ukraine.
Mariupol school / photo; Mariupol City Council
Meanwhile, in Luhansk oblast, most of which is under temporary Russian occupation, 235 educational institutions were damaged, including 59 kindergartens and 112 schools.
For example, in Lysychansk, the multidisciplinary gymnasium, which survived two world wars and the battle for the city in 2014, burned down due to shelling.
Lysychansk gymnasium / photo: Luhansk regional administration
In Rubizhne, the premises of the Luhansk National University named after Taras Shevchenko have been turned into ruins.
The premises of the Luhansk National University in Rubizhne / photots: Tribuna and Suspilne
In fact, there are no surviving educational buildings left in Severodonetsk.
School No. 13 in Severodonetsk / photo: Luhansk regional administration and Telegram of Volodymyr Zelenskyy
In general, according to the estimates of direct physical damage carried out within the framework of the National Council for the Reconstruction of Ukraine from the Consequences of War by the analytical team of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) with the support of the Government of Great Britain (UK Aid), as of November 2022, the total amount of damage caused to the infrastructure of Ukraine is equivalent in international currency to almost 136 billion US dollars.
This news was created by the «Vchasno» news agency as part of the IWPR program «Supporting regional media of Ukraine during the war» with the financial support of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The content of the material is the sole responsibility of «Vchasno» and does not reflect the views of the British Government or the Institute of War and Peace Reporting.