Russian troops destroyed all schools in Sviatohirsk community

Volodymyr Rybalkin, the head of the Sviatohirsk city military administration, told this to an Ukrinform correspondent.

According to him, the enemy in the community hit cultural centers, kindergartens, and administrative buildings.

“The Russians carried out air strikes on all five schools: four of them were hit directly, and in one case, shells fell on the school yard, significantly damaging the building. There was a secondary school in Sviatohirsk that was destroyed by Russians with direct tank fire,” said Rybalkin.

He clarified that in 2022, the city of Sviatohirsk was partially under occupation, there were no hostilities, and Russian military vehicles entered the area and proceeded to strike an empty school building.

“It was a demonstrative destruction for the sake of destruction. It became clear that the enemy was not fighting soldiers, but our nation. They turned the school into a toilet, a pigsty, and left inscriptions on the walls about the so-called ‘Russian world’,” Rybalkin said.

He stated that currently three schools are operating in the community on a remote basis, while two schools have suspended their activities.

As reported, the Sviatohirsk city territorial community includes 13 settlements: one city and 12 villages.

Prior to the full-scale invasion, the Sviatohirsk community was home to more than 9,000 local residents, including internally displaced persons from the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk region occupied in 2014. As of mid-November 2024, about 2,950 people remained there, including 312 children.

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