January 2026. After four years of studying online or in small rooms in a village kindergarten, schoolchildren in the village of Buzova in the Kyiv region returned to their classes. The lyceum was destroyed by artillery fire by Russian occupiers during the offensive on Kyiv. There were several hundred people in the basement under the school at the time. Restoration work began immediately after the liberation of the region, but it took 4 years. More about the emotions of schoolchildren, educators, and scandals surrounding the reconstruction can be found in the Suspilny material.
The Buziv school was demolished by the Public in early April 2022. At that time, its destruction was estimated at 40-50%.
Labor training class at the Buziv Lyceum, Kyiv region, April 2022. Social News/Daryna Kolomiyets
Nowadays, it is difficult to recognize the ruins left behind by the Russians in the new lyceum. The school has become colorful, and the classrooms, as the teachers say, are even many times better than those before the damage: a new interior, and most importantly, new equipment.
“Today, 426 of us started studying. Another 68 are in family classes. And you understand, the study was difficult, mixed, so many parents sent their children to schools in neighboring settlements. But they are already gradually returning. The school is designed for 624 students in total,” said Serhiy Kharytonchyk, director of the Buziv Academic Lyceum, during a tour of the institution. According to him, certain work is still ongoing, in particular, on the restoration of the sports field.
Buziv Academic Lyceum after restoration, January 2026. Social News/Daryna Kolomiets
After the destruction, students were transferred to online learning. Later, teachers began teaching in two shifts in small rooms on the kindergarten grounds. However, it was quite cramped there, so some children continued to study online. In addition, the hastily assembled classrooms did not have any equipment. The restored school was equipped with the latest technologies for learning. Chemistry teacher Marta Kondratyuk told Suspilne about her new collection:
“Any subject, for children to know it well, should interest them. At least we can now teach chemistry and physics properly. There are test tubes, flasks, and each child has a hand sanitizer. We conduct experiments. The children are delighted. They are very hardy, but everyone is tired. Everyone wanted to come back here. No less than the students and teachers were happy to return. Everyone ran together, looked around everything. It's like coming home. Back to their native walls. But everything is new. Everything is interesting,” she shares her impressions.
Equipment in a chemistry classroom at the Buziv Lyceum, Kyiv region. Social News/Daryna Kolomiyets
Our conversation is interrupted by the bell. So we go to class with the children. Four classes of graduates completed their studies outside their alma mater. Tenth-grader Dasha Kovalenko says she didn't believe she would have time to return here while still a schoolgirl.
Tenth grader Dasha Kovalenko (right) at her school in the village of Buzova, Kyiv region. Social News/Daryna Kolomiyets
“For all of us, this is truly great happiness! Wow! Some action. Because no one believed us anymore. They promised us a long time ago. And now they are already saying: you will go, you will go soon, you will go. We are like: so… where are we going to go? But it really happened, we are happy that it is like this, and we really want to go here. It is very cozy here now. And during these four years, while the deadlines for the resumption of school were constantly postponed, it was difficult to study. During the anxiety. Or when there was no communication. Or those tiny classes. Now we are enthusiastic and have an even greater desire to study,” the girl said. She dreams of becoming a doctor in the future, so she adds: returning to the walls of school gives her faith that everything will work out.
A lesson for ninth-graders in a restored lyceum, Buzova, Kyiv region. Social News/Daryna Kolomiets
Second-graders' lesson in the restored lyceum, Buzova, Kyiv region. Social News/Daryna Kolomiets
In addition to the classrooms, a shelter was also equipped. At the time when the Russians were shelling the school, several hundred people, most of whom were students, were hiding in its basement. Now, classrooms have been set up here, where children study during air raids. The shelter will also be improved in the future, and restoration work is also underway on the sports fields near the institution. The director of the lyceum hopes that all work will be completed by spring.
A sinkhole in the yard of the Buzivska school in the Kyiv region. There were many of these on the sports grounds, April, 2022. Social News/Daryna Kolomiyets
Problems surrounding school reconstruction
After the de-occupation of the Kyiv region, the renovation of the Buziv Academic Lyceum started quite quickly, but already at the initial stage it encountered a number of difficulties. In 2023, 1 million 250 thousand dollars were collected through the official United24 platform for the reconstruction of the lyceum. This was the first project in the direction of “Education and Science” (part of the funds were later redirected to other school reconstruction projects in the Kyiv region).
However, this did not accelerate the progress of the work. Some of the restoration processes were slowed down due to changes in contractors and problems with construction logistics. Several companies terminated contracts or were unable to promptly complete the stages of reconstruction. As a result, the reconstruction was actually suspended.
View from the window of a sports field where workers are working on its restoration, Buzova, Kyiv region, January 2026. Social News/Daryna Kolomiyets
In 2024, parents protested demanding faster reconstruction. People complained that they had not been able to return their children to normal classes for years and that the reconstruction process itself was opaque and dragged on without visible results.
The rallies attracted the attention of the media and the public, after which the renovation was resumed, and the new contractor was Bud-Pro Systems LLC. However, scandals arose here too, in particular due to the fact that the company was involved in tax evasion. In addition, journalists from Nashi Groshi found out that the company, which was only a year old at the time, had already managed to inflate prices for construction materials in one of its similar projects.
But the most important scandal surrounding the company was that its owners jointly own two companies: all three actively win budget tenders. In the past, one of them was fined by the Antimonopoly Committee for collusion in tenders. All three companies – “Bud-Pro Systems”, “KP “Ukrdorbud” and “RBK Kyivbudservis” – are involved in criminal proceedings.