On September 3, 2024, Russian drones struck Sumy State University (SumDU), causing extensive damage to the Mechanical Engineering building.

SumDU released a statement describing the damage to its facilities and sharing photos of the destruction. The photos show shattered windows and a portion of the Mechanical Engineering building that was turned to rubble.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about military forces targeting higher education facilities in armed conflict. Parties to a conflict may only attack legitimate military targets; where a party suspects that a civilian facility — such as a university building — is being used for military purposes, that party has a duty to take every action practicable to verify that this suspicion is correct before initiating an attack. In the event of such an attack, parties must take all practicable precautions to avoid or minimize damage to civilian facilities. Further, parties must refrain from launching attacks which may be expected to cause disproportionate damage to civilian facilities.

Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://news.sumdu.edu.ua/en/en-news/13812-sumdu-campus-hit-by-russian-air-strike.html
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/09/3/7473320/
https://kyivindependent.com/russian-forces-strike-university-building-in-sumy/