MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. The number of schools in Ukraine has decreased from 14,815 in 2020 to 12,701 at present due to the exodus of young people, the Ukrainian newspaper Strana reported, citing the profile portal Education.

A total of 2,114 schools have closed. In urban areas, nearly 5% of these educational institutions have ceased operations. In rural areas, the situation is more severe — over 10% of schools have closed. Before the start of this academic year, approximately 300,000 schoolchildren left the country, Deputy Nina Yuzhanina of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) stated earlier.

Ukraine has been facing serious demographic challenges since gaining independence. According to estimates from the Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, between 25 and 28 million people currently reside in the territories under Kiev’s control. Ella Libanova, the director of the institute, previously noted that Ukraine's population will not return to Soviet-era levels — around 52 million people lived in the republic at that time. In 2012, the birth rate in the country reached a local maximum, amounting to only 1.53. Consequently, demographers believe that a "large influx of immigration" is urgently needed, including the return of Ukrainians who have moved abroad; together with labor migrants, this number reaches approximately 9 million. Currently, there are three deaths for every newborn in Ukraine.