“Kharkiv Heroes Evacuate 48 Kids After Drone Strike”

Forty-eight preschoolers were rushed to safety by firefighters, teachers, and parents after a Russian drone slammed into a private kindergarten in Kharkiv’s Kholodnohirskyi district, igniting a fierce blaze and collapsing part of the second floor. Officials said the attack killed a 40-year-old municipal worker outside the facility and injured at least nine others.

The children were not physically harmed, but many showed acute stress reactions as rescuers carried them from smoke-filled classrooms to a nearby shelter.

Authorities said three Shahed/Geran-2-type “kamikaze” drones struck around late morning, ripping through the building and setting off multiple fires that emergency crews fought for hours.

Local prosecutors reported the use of a jet-powered variant of the Iranian-designed drone, while Kharkiv’s mayor confirmed that 48 children and staff were inside when the strike hit; rapid evacuation procedures drilled since the start of the full-scale war prevented mass casualties.
Images released by Ukraine’s State Emergency Service show firefighters cradling sobbing toddlers as shattered glass, toys, and classroom furniture lay strewn across blackened corridors.

City officials said the blaze at the kindergarten alone spanned roughly 500 square meters, while nearby shops, offices, and vehicles were also damaged.

The strike formed part of a wider Russian aerial barrage that day across multiple regions, underscoring the continued risk to civilian infrastructure and schools despite expanded air-defence coverage.

Parents gathered at cordons spoke of frantic calls and messages as air-raid alerts sounded, then the sight of children emerging in blankets and dust masks.

Pediatric teams assisted families on site, and investigators began collecting fragments and flight-path data to document the attack for potential war-crimes proceedings. Local leaders vowed to relocate classes and fast-track repairs where possible, but warned that repeated strikes on educational facilities have left deep scars on Kharkiv’s community life.

Sources: Kyiv Independent; ABC News; Gwara Media, BBC News.