On May 1, 2025, Russian drones struck Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University, causing significant damage to buildings.

In a Facebook post, the university shared photos of the damaged building, including shattered windows, equipment. and classrooms in the automobile, electrical engineering, engineering and physics, and humanities departments.

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:
https://english.nv.ua/russian-war/russian-strike-damages-buildings-at-zaporizhzhya-polytechnic-university-on-may-1-50510938.html
https://www.facebook.com/nuzaporizkapolitekhnika/posts/pfbid02xrqR6eAVPpS1hwgqGTJRcvhCZHNu1aGLscViCRFu2ujWZprAuNKWjo7sS7A9v9YGl