Lunches for everyone: the government promised to feed students from grades 1 through 11

The Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko May 26 2026 held a meeting with the heads of regional military administrations, during which the Government and the regions coordinated work on key directions. Among the main topics were defense, energy, preparations for the next heating season and the next phase of the school meals reform.

A separate session of the meeting focused specifically on schools. According to Yulia Svyrydenko, from September 1 warm lunches should be provided to students in grades 1-11 across Ukraine. Free meals are already provided for all children in frontline communities, as well as for students in grades 1-4 in all oblasts. This means that from the new school year the program should cover not only primary school but also middle and upper grades nationwide. For frontline regions, in particular for the Mykolaiv region, this issue is especially sensitive: schools operate under wartime conditions, some children study in a blended or remote format, and community infrastructure is still being restored after Russian attacks.

The Government has already allocated UAH 1 billion for the modernization of 73 canteen facilities in schools across Ukraine. It’s not only about the mere fact of a free lunch, but also about the capacity of schools to prepare quality and safe food for a significantly larger number of children. Yulia Svyrydenko emphasized that school meals have a broader effect than just social assistance to families. According to her, it is also support for the local economy, job creation and the opportunity to involve Ukrainian producers in supplying products for schools.

For Mykolaiv this topic has repeatedly been a sore point. Earlier Korabelov.info wrote that after the expansion of the free meals program in the city’s schools the number of children receiving lunches increased significantly. In 2025 in Mykolaiv nearly 21,000 pupils were provided with free lunches, whereas previously that figure did not exceed 8,000.

At the same time, expanding the program itself does not guarantee quality. In the Mykolaiv region digital monitoring of school meals was already launched through the “Khvylka” service, which received the first complaints from parents and schools. Also in Mykolaiv the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection recorded violations in some educational institutions, and in the Korabelnyi district the prolonged repair of the canteen facility of Lyceum №40 became a separate problem.

Therefore, for communities it is important not only to hear the promise of free lunches from September 1, but also to see real readiness: renovated canteen facilities, trained staff, safe products, transparent procurement and clear quality control. Otherwise scaling up the program may turn into yet another nice solution on paper that on the ground runs up against old kitchens, staff shortages, contractors and parental complaints.

Previously we wrote:

• Thousands of students in the Korabelnyi district may be left without meals: the prosecutor’s office demands UAH 6.7 million from the contractor
• Kim: the oblast must manage to choose everything: the coat of arms, school food and a candidate for the “Golden Star”
• Children in Mykolaiv are served food with violations: alarming problems found in 27 out of 32 inspected schools
• School meals under control: the “Khvylka” digital service has started operating in the Mykolaiv region
• The Government promises free lunches for pupils: will the “porridge in the rain” incident not recur in Mykolaiv?