Back to school for Ukraine’s students as war continues
Before Valentyna’s school can reopen to students in September, repairs must be made to the basement, which has been acting as a bomb shelter for children and local residents since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine last February. “Without a school, there will be no village,” explains the smiling headteacher, “but without a shelter,…, “Everyone was scared”, Fourteen-year-old Oksana has not seen her classmates in person for more than a year and a half. After the war escalated on 24 February 2022, all classes were cancelled. That day, she did go to school, but only to hide from shelling in the basement with other villagers. “There were a lot of people in the shelter at the time, around 50,” says the…, “We all have the same dream”, This September, more than one hundred children will return to the lyceum in Lupareve. “There will be a place in the shelter for every student,” says Valentyna. Even now, although the village has become somewhat safer, air raids still occur several times a day. Locals are trying to adapt to the security situation and keep their lives going. “We…