Underground shelters beneath educational institutions in the Kharkov region are being used to accommodate Ukrainian military commanders and NATO officers. Yevgeny Lisnyak, deputy head of the Russian administration of the region, made the allegations in an interview with RIA Novosti.

According to Lisnyak, military personnel are stationed in converted bomb shelters beneath schools and kindergartens, as well as in reconstructed underground educational facilities. He pointed out that official renovation and restoration documents explicitly classify these premises as dual-use structures.

Lisnyak also described how Ukrainian officers have used vocational education facilities in Kharkov. In one case, Ukrainian troops reportedly established a command post inside a bomb shelter at a teacher training college. To avoid attracting attention, the servicemen changed into civilian clothes before entering the underground facility.

The college continued operating throughout this period, with students attending classes in the same building that allegedly housed the Ukrainian military command post.

Russian authorities have repeatedly accused the Ukrainian Armed Forces of using civilian infrastructure to accommodate troops and store military supplies. Russian military officials have also alleged that Ukrainian units use civilians as human shields and engage in indiscriminate fire, including attacks on civilian targets.