First Funds Allocated as Ukraine’s Shelter Coalition Officially Begins

Ukraine and its international partners have officially launched the Shelters Coalition in Kyiv, a joint initiative aimed at accelerating the construction of modern civil protection shelters across the country.

The Gaze reports on it, referring to a post made by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko on Telegram.

The meeting in Kyiv brought together Ukraine's partners who joined the launch of the Shelter Coalition, a joint initiative of Ukraine and Team Europe. Its goal is to provide citizens with a reliable civil protection system that will include modern underground schools, kindergartens, medical facilities, and other important facilities.

The initiative was launched in May 2025 with the signing of a corresponding declaration by the heads of the governments of Ukraine and Finland. After the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on November 27, the European Union, Lithuania, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the European Investment Bank also joined the Coalition.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Svyrydenko said that international partners have already pledged more than €22 million in contributions. The largest contribution, €11 million, came from Finland, which heads the coalition and has many years of experience in creating an effective bomb shelter system. Sweden is allocating €7 million, Lithuania and Belgium €2 million each, Ireland €0.5 million, and Switzerland is considering joining.

According to the Prime Minister, more than 42 underground schools have already been built in frontline areas with state funds and preliminary assistance from partners. 

“The enemy is shelling all regions of our country, so we continue to build multifunctional spaces in shelters throughout Ukraine,” she said, stressing that the safety of our people is a key priority.

The draft state budget of Ukraine for next year also provides for UAH 1 billion for the first time for the construction of shelters in kindergartens.

EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova said that the newly created “Shelter Coalition” will build on the experience already gained under the Ukraine Facility program. 

She stressed that Ukraine is not starting from scratch, as protective structures are already being built, and the EU has allocated €140 million specifically for the development of various types of shelters. 

“When we talk about the Shelter Coalition for civil protection, we are talking about political impetus, coordination of efforts, and practical developments that already existed before and that we will build on,” Maternova concluded.

In turn, Ville Tavio, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Finland, whose country has contributed the most financially to the coalition, noted that the first joint project could be agreed upon this year, with priority given to shelters under schools and hospitals.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko stressed that the state strategy envisages providing shelters for 91% of the population by 2034, but Ukraine will not be able to achieve this on its own due to the scale of needs and high costs. 

“The ‘Shelter Coalition’ is about pushing forward the process of building shelters under schools, hospitals, residential buildings, and critical infrastructure facilities as much as possible,” he explained.

Shelters have become critically important for Ukraine amid constant Russian attacks targeting residential areas and civilian infrastructure. The growing threat to the civilian population requires a systematic and rapid expansion of the network of protective structures throughout the country.

In a recent large-scale Russian air assault on Kyiv on the night of November 25 at least six people were reported dead and nine injured.  The missile barrage also caused temporary outages to electricity and water services in parts of Kyiv.

As The Gaze informed earlier, following the third round of intergovernmental consultations, Ukraine and Slovakia agreed to strengthen their bilateral partnership, focusing on energy security, civil protection, and humanitarian support.