in Kharkiv, an underground school

From the outside, it’s impossible to guess that it is the entrance to a school. However, the shelter hides many classrooms six meters underground. It’s a first return to this unusual place for children from Kharkiv (Ukraine). Despite the war, nothing seems to have changed for these schoolchildren, happy to be able to find each other again. Almost as before, as if the war approaching Kharkiv did not exist. This underground school, the first of its kind in Ukraine, was built to allow children to continue their education in complete safety.

In these windowless bunker boxes, everything has been thought of. 600 students of different levels have joined this school. To attend, both parents and students must give their permission. As for those who stay at home, they can follow the courses by video. “Their parents gave them the basics when there couldn’t be school. Now, it’s me who takes over”, explains a teacher. In another class, girls are in the majority. Many boys would help with the war effort. Since the start of the war, more than 1,300 Ukrainian schools have been destroyed by Russian bombing.