More than 1,300 schools in Ukraine have been destroyed by Russia, but the country’s children are dreaming of their future and working to achieve their ambitions.
Just 25 km from the front line, pupils in Kharkiv are studying underground in the city’s metro stations.
The authorities in Ukraine’s second-largest city have decided it is the safest option, and also an opportunity for young people to socialise again, working side by side.
More than 1,300 schools in Ukraine have been destroyed by Russia, but the country’s children are dreaming of their future and working to achieve their ambitions.
Pupils in the 11th grade are preparing for university entrance tests.
“After two years of studying online, it is very good when you arrive and see people’s eyes,” said Yegor Rastorgui. “When you can hear them not via the loudspeakers of your device, but with your own ears. In principle, this way is much easier to study.”
His classmate Sofia Semenchuk hopes the in-person tuition will help her pass the entrance tests.
“I was planning to enter the Kyiv National Shevchenko University for Programming studies, for Computer Technologies, so I need to have advanced preparations in Mathematics, of course, and Ukrainian language,” she said.
The metro station where they are working has capacity for 400 schoolchildren from junior through to senior school.