On April 15, 2026, Russian missile attacks damaged buildings at Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, killing one student.

According to student reports, explosions hit the university immediately following an air ride siren. Missiles hit a dormitory building, killing 19-year-old software engineering student Ilya Bezbozhny.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about military forces targeting higher education facilities in armed conflict and sends condolences to Ilya Bezbozhny’s family and community. 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://24tv.ua/dnipro/ru/ilja-bezbozhnyj-pogib-dnepre-rezultate-popadanija-rossijskoj_n3061234
https://censor.net/en/photonews/4001398/illia-bezbozhnyi-a-student-at-dnipro-national-university-was-killed-in-the-strike-in-dnipro