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0:00Schoolchildren in the southern Ukrainian city Zaporizhia celebrated the traditional first day of school on Sunday. The ceremonies began just hours after warnings of Russian air raids sounded through the city. Zaporizhia is just 40 kilometers from the war's front. That danger is never far from the minds of teachers and families at one of the city's schools. Russian artillery and missiles strike there so often that local officials were forced to ban large gatherings. Only students starting Their first or last years could take part in the ceremony. The Associated Press is not identifying the school for security reasons. The children wore traditional Ukrainian clothing and carried flowers. Each first-year student
1:13held the hand of a final-year students in a small parade. The school once had 800 students, but about 300 fled the city seeking safer places. The remaining children alternate one week of study at school with one week of online study. That is because the school's bomb shelter can hold only around 250 people. That shelter is about 75 meters away from the main school building, across an open playground. School Director Kostyantin Lipski said the youngest students work in a classroom just above the underground shelter. The rest of the school operates in the main building. We prepared everything for the new school year. We equipped the bunker in case of air alarms, so children will have a safe space because our
2:24school will continue lessons during the air raid alarms in the bunker," he said. Sunday's ceremony went on without problems. Olga Komarova-Lesko is the mother of an eleventh grader and a sixth grader. She said she was hopeful for the coming school year. She sees it as the best solution for the present conditions. We are happy that the children had the chance to go to the celebration today, just as in the pre-war times, she said, this is really exciting and joyful. Russia launched large numbers of missiles and drones on the capital Kyiv Monday, wounding three people and damaging schools. On Tuesday, Russian missiles killed at least 41 people and wounded over 180 in Poltava, a city in the central eastern part of Ukraine.
3:36I'm Katie Weaver
This transcript was generated automatically from the recording, so it will contain mistakes — especially around names and places.