Air raid alert shatters first day of school in Kyiv

Young girls sit in an underground shelter during an air raid alarm during the traditional back to school celebrations in Kyiv [AP Photo]

Hours after Russian ballistic missiles shook Kyiv overnight, balloons floated above a schoolyard in the Ukrainian capital’s Obolon district on Tuesday. Bleary-eyed parents and children in festive outfits gathered to music, determined to celebrate the traditional start of the school year.

But within seconds, an air raid alert sounded, and the crowd dispersed. Children’s laughter and music gave way to distant explosions.

Ukrainian students are beginning their fifth school year since Russia’s invasion, with no end to the war in sight. Thousands of schools have adapted, shifting to remote or hybrid learning, holding classes in shelters or closing in destroyed or Russian-occupied towns.

Russian attacks have destroyed an estimated 1 million textbooks, and officials are preparing for what could be one of the war’s hardest winters.

Years of war are taking a heavy toll on Ukrainians as Russia escalates its attacks. Ukraine has few effective means of intercepting the growing barrage of high-speed ballistic missiles, while waves of jet-powered Shahed drones stretch some attacks over days.

With sirens sounding across Kyiv every few hours, school principal Yevhen Poliakov considered canceling the ceremony. But Lyceum Obolon has a shelter, and he was confident the children could reach safety quickly. They did.

Kyiv schools plan to begin the academic year with a blend of in-person and remote classes, shifting quickly depending on the security situation, the city administration said.

Ukraine’s education minister, Andrii Butenko, said in August that 8,424 of the country’s general secondary schools will operate in person, 1,306 remotely, and 2,211 in a blended format — meaning nearly a third cannot open fully in person.

Poliakov has tried to keep students in the classroom, seeing drawbacks to remote learning.

“Parents need to work and earn money,” he said. “We’ll teach them here, and it’s better for a child to be under our supervision than alone on the ninth floor while mom and dad are at work — with just the dog for company, not knowing what to do.”

His school also uses Mriia, Ukraine’s national education app and web portal, to connect students, parents, teachers, and school administrators and support remote learning.

The school is also upgrading its shelter, preparing for winter blackouts and stockpiling firewood.

War has turned education into an ‘obstacle course’

Elsewhere in Kyiv, only a handful of children showed up for the informal ceremony at a school damaged in a Russian attack days earlier.

Windows, facades, hallways, doors and equipment in three buildings were damaged, and most students began the school year online.

Oksana Herasymchuk and her daughter, who started middle school, went anyway. Her daughter began first grade in 2022, months after Russia’s invasion, and the family has struggled to adjust to wartime conditions.

After the attack, Herasymchuk isn’t sure what comes next.

“Our children’s age group has faced a lot of trials,” she said.

Yevhen Yurko brought his 6-year-old son Darii to the school on the boy’s first day. Darii had his first lesson online but he wanted to see the school in person. HANNA ARHIROVA, KYIV, MDT/AP