BUCHA, Ukraine - The bodies that littered the school playground in April are gone. The blood on the walls has been scrubbed clean and shattered windows mostly repaired.did not open when classes began Thursday for millions of Ukrainian children.and School No. 3's basement, which residents say was once used as a torture chamber by Russian soldiers, is still an off-limits crime scene.
With sandbags outnumbering backpacks, class sizes limited by how many children can cram into bomb shelters, and schools being supplied with first-aid kits, the day was not so much an end of summer recess but a continuation of the bleak season of war. An additional 2 million children are estimated to be living outside Ukraine and will either log on remotely for schooling with Ukrainian teachers or try to integrate into new schools with classes taught in foreign tongues.
Student Vera Lepneva takes a picture at a back-to-school event in Bucha, Ukraine, on Aug 31, 2022. PHOTO: NYTIMES According to Moscow, that means teaching a version of history that aligns with the false Kremlin narrative that there is no such thing as Ukrainian nationhood. "From Yemen to Syria, what we have learned is that children just absolutely need this psychological break from war," Elder said."And attending class plays a critical role in that."
"They were wrong; they were not safe," he said. During 32 days of Russian occupation, he noted, schools were turned into firing positions and places of oppression.