In Kyiv, a mother and her infant were unable to reach a shelter during a drone attack
On the evening of September 22, during an air raid alert and a Russian drone attack on Kyiv, a resident of the Obolon district said she was unable to reach the shelter at Lyceum No. 298 with her infant. According to her, the shelter’s doors were locked while explosions were heard in the capital and air defense systems were active.
Lyceum No. 298 is located at 58b Volodymyr Ivasyuk Avenue.
The woman said that during the explosions, she found herself standing in front of the closed shelter door with her child in her arms.
She claims that the school’s security guards did not open the shelter for a long time. She said that previously, during air raid alerts, this shelter had been accessible to civilians.
This time, as the resident notes, not only she but also other parents with children were unable to get inside and were forced to wait on the street during the attack.
“A shelter must be accessible immediately during an air raid alert—not after phone calls, not after explanations, not after waiting amid explosions, but the moment the threat arises,” the local community’s statement emphasizes.
Lyceum No. 298 is a municipal institution in Kyiv’s Obolon District. According to the public registry, it was founded by the Kyiv City Council, and its director is Ihor Papirenko.
Previously, the Obolon District State Administration reported that the shelter at what was then Specialized School No. 298 was one of the largest among the most basic shelters in Kyiv’s educational institutions. It had a capacity of 1,105 people.
In Kyiv, officials have repeatedly emphasized the need to ensure unimpeded public access to shelters during air raid alerts.
The Kyiv City State Administration’s Department of Municipal Safety notes that officials of agencies or enterprises responsible for shelters bear personal responsibility for their condition and public access.
Starting in 2025, Ukraine has also increased penalties for failing to ensure unimpeded public access to shelters. The corresponding administrative violation carries a fine ranging from 1,700 to 3,400 hryvnias, and the law also provides for criminal liability in certain cases.
The local community recalled a tragic incident in Kyiv’s Desnianskyi District, where people were unable to enter a locked shelter during a Russian attack.
Residents of the Obolonskyi district are calling on law enforcement and city authorities to investigate the circumstances of the incident at Lyceum No. 298 and to inspect shelters in the district’s educational institutions.
At this time, the reason why the shelter at Lyceum No. 298 was locked during the air raid alert requires an official investigation to determine who is responsible.
The local community group “Life in Obolon, Kyiv” reported on the situation on Facebook, citing a resident’s appeal.
In Stara Hnylytsia, Kharkiv Oblast, six people were killed and seven others were injured as a result of a Russian strike on a vegetable storage facility. Three of the injured are in critical condition.
On the night of September 24, Russian forces launched a massive attack on the Khmelnytskyi region using strike drones, including jet-powered drones. In Khmelnytskyi, an apartment building was damaged as a result of the attack.
Over the past 24 hours, Russian troops carried out 690 strikes on 55 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region. Six people were wounded as a result of enemy attacks on the Zaporizhzhia district.
There were 277 combat engagements on the front lines over the past day. Russian troops carried out 83 airstrikes and dropped 287 guided bombs, as well as deployed 7,467 kamikaze drones and carried out 2,469 artillery strikes.
On the night of September 24, Russian forces attacked Odesa. The strike damaged the roof and part of the top floor of a medical facility, and shattered windows in 10 nearby buildings and a school.
Russia launched a missile attack on Kyiv on the night of September 24, leaving two dead and eight injured.
Earlier in Sumy, water supply was restricted following an airstrike due to power outages.
We should add that drones attacked the temporarily occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions overnight.
As a reminder, Russia struck Kharkiv on the night of September 23, resulting in one fatality.
On the morning of September 23, an air raid alert was declared in Kyiv and several regions due to the threat of UAVs.
