As Russian air strikes keep threatening them, officials in Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine have started building strongly protected underground schools that will let children go back to in-person studies as Moscow’s invasion continues.

Schools in the region of about 2.5 million people, only 32km from the Russian border, switched to online learning after Russia invaded in February 2022.

Russian missiles, drones and artillery often target Kharkiv, with the governor saying on Thursday that three different districts had been hit in the last 24 hours.

Two schools, each for up to 500 people, are being built now and will resist direct hits, said chief regional architect Anton Korotkovskykh.