The northern part of Kharkiv, which found itself under heavy enemy shelling from the very first day, forced everyone to descend underground.
There are few photographs from the first day of the invasion. Even those who never part with a camera had neither the time nor the inspiration to shoot back then. That is why photos of students and teachers in shelters on that first day remain unique testimonies of those events.
Students with backpacks in the shelters of the main and aircraft building blocks.
Bewilderment. Silence. Phones in hands.
It was on that day that the underground life of KhAI began.
Shelters and bunkers left over from the Cold War era were never seriously considered by anyone as places for real life. Not even in a nightmare could one have imagined what KhAI was experiencing in those days.
Damp floor. Damaged walls. Mold. Spartan conditions.
And yet, people began to settle in here. Students, faculty families, and local residents for whom the KhAI shelters became a second home for long months.
Bunkers instead of classrooms. Mattresses right on the floor. Food in lunchboxes.
Queues for power outlets—just to charge a phone and stay somewhat connected to the outside world.
And children—those who hardly saw the sky that spring.
Yet despite the war, the university lived on. It taught.
It healed the wounds left by shelling. It saw people off to the front lines. It wiped away tears.
And it smiled—even through the pain.
Meanwhile, spring was blooming in the Forest Park.
Only instead of birdsong, there was endless cannonade.
That was how the spring of 2022 sounded.
Painful.
And unforgettable.
The Main Building is not only an architectural landmark of our city from the early 1930s, but also the heart of the legendary KhAI. The creation of Kharkiv architect Oleksandr Mezherovsky is surviving its second war. For many years, its bomb shelters looked like an anachronism of Cold War nuclear confrontation. But on February 24, 2022, what was perceived just yesterday as a legacy of a bygone era instantly became a vital necessity.
Under shelling, air raid sirens, and alarms, a new concept for KhAI's existence under martial law began to form. To organize a safe educational process, large-scale renovation, modernization, and equipping of the bomb shelters commenced. The words "modernization" and "equipping" were not just a formality—modern education is impossible without proper heating, ventilation, lighting, and stable communications. New utilities had to be laid, reliable signal coverage ensured, and classrooms equipped with modern computer equipment and projection screens.
Work started on January 15, 2024, and by April 25, the university received two full-fledged classrooms for 60 students and 6 teachers with a total area of 153 square meters, as well as over 100 square meters of additional premises—a spacious lobby, ventilation and evacuation exits, a medical assistance room, and auxiliary areas for storing documentation during the NMT.
On April 25, 2024, the renovated shelter welcomed its first students—candidates of Specialty 125 "Cybersecurity and Information Protection" who were taking the Unified State Qualification Exam (these historical shots are in the photo). On the same day, Professor of Department 503 Dmytro Uzun conducted a class with students within the walls of KhAI for the first time during wartime.
At the time, Acting Rector Oleksiy Lytvynov stated: "This is a landmark event, as it proves that even underground, the university continues to fully fulfill its educational mission."
However, to be precise, the premiere of the new location took place ten days earlier. On April 15, 2024, a charity concert by the legendary KhAI Orchestra took place in the updated space—a fundraiser to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine (these shots conclude the story). It was then, amidst music and sincere applause, that a new chapter in our university's wartime life began.
As early as the beginning of 2024, KhAI received its first modern classrooms for conducting classes with students and holding the NMT. This was important not only for recruiting students in a frontline city, but also for asserting the university's status as an institution capable of ensuring the comfort and safety of its learners despite sirens and enemy strikes.
However, 253 square meters were not enough for KhAI. It was necessary to move further. After all, the concept of a protected university is only the first step toward realizing the long-held dream of restoring the educational process in a hybrid format.
And most importantly—the students. A small but tight-knit university community, its youth engine, dreamed of a full student life. Stories that KhAI once hosted clubs, interest groups, and societies remained mere warm memories of those who had witnessed that blessed pre-COVID and pre-war era.
Starting in January 2024, the KhAI team worked on a new project—from renovation works to fully furnishing the space. Beyond the labor-intensive repairs, they designed and installed ventilation and alert systems with their own hands, laid networks, and thought through every detail so that the space would be not just safe, but truly comfortable for studying and socializing.
Thus, through joint efforts, a new location emerged at the university in early October 2024—the "Student Creativity HUB." A space for learning and creativity, engineering experiments and teamwork, for meeting people, socializing, and sharing experience. A small branch of the KhAI Scientific and Technical Library also opened here with a compact yet cozy reading room.
October 14, 2024, went down in the modern history of KhAI.
A frontline university twenty kilometers from the front line does not experience many celebrations, so that day was indeed a true celebration.
Students and teachers gathered in the HUB, along with pupils from nearby schools, for whom this space has since served as evening classrooms.
For a year and a half now, the "Student Creativity HUB" has not only taught and welcomed scientists and delegations. Laughter and songs resound here during student holidays, and the space changes its mood for Valentine's Day, Halloween, or New Year's celebrations.
A board game club operates here, exhibitions are held, and an astronomy club masters telescopes weekly, revealing the starry sky to students.
A place born out of necessity gradually gained its own magic—the magic of vibrant student life. Because a university is not just walls and shelters.
It is the people who fill the space with energy, dreams, and the future.