The National Education Union sends its solidarity to the Ukrainian people and supports the emergency protest called by the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign in response to President Trump's decision to lift sanctions on Russian fuel exports.
Earlier this week, the NEU was honoured to once again host our colleague Olha Chabinouk, Vice President of our sister union, the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine (TUESWU), alongside her 15-year-old daughter, Yeva, in London.
Hearing directly from Olha, it was clear that the past month has seen some of the heaviest bombardment Kyiv and Ukraine has experienced since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. As Ukraine enters a fifth winter of war, many fear it could be the hardest yet.
The human cost of Russia's illegal invasion continues to mount, with children and civilians paying the highest price. The UN Human Rights Office has found that more than 400 civilians were killed or injured on average every week in Ukraine during the first eight months of 2026, a 55 per cent increase on the same period in 2025. Meanwhile, hundreds more schools have been attacked, bringing the total number of education facilities damaged or destroyed since the war began to more than 4,700.
Recent weeks have seen a further escalation in attacks by Russia on civilians and critical infrastructure. Waves of missile and drone strikes have targeted homes, schools, hospitals, energy facilities and transport networks.
At this critical moment when the international community should be redoubling our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we have instead seen the opposite this week from the United States. President Trump has lifted sanctions on Russian fuel exports, helping to bankroll Russia's war machine, and announced an energy ceasefire without consulting Ukraine.
On Tuesday evening, Ukraine’s access to SpaceX’s Starlink internet and Starshield intelligence services, which is owned and controlled by the US Government, was also restricted, severely hampering Ukraine’s air defence systems.
As restrictions on Ukraine's defence systems were imposed, Olha and Yeva were travelling home from Warsaw to Kyiv. During their train journey, they were forced to evacuate their train five times as missile strikes targeted infrastructure along the route. They spent much of the night in an open field after sections of the railway line were hit. That same night, Russia launched another major assault on Kyiv, deploying a record number of hypersonic missiles against the capital.
Olha and Yeva are now back in Kyiv. Yeva and her classmates have been unable to return to school this year because of the intensity of attacks on the city. The conditions for learning are almost impossible. Power cuts, disrupted communications and repeated air raid alerts frequently reduce students to little more than 15 to 20 minutes of learning each day before lessons are interrupted once again.
Children across Ukraine have now endured an average of over 4,000 hours of air raid alarms over the past four years.
The NEU will continue to stand with our TUESWU colleagues in their fight to defend Ukraine’s education system and in their struggle for peace, security and self-determination. The people of Ukraine have the right to determine their own future, free from violence, occupation and war.