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- Life in Ukraine
“Children Must See Each Other.” Sumy’s Underground Schools Defy Russian Terror
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![Alexander Query]( "Alexander Query")
In the Sumy region, where Russian strikes often target schools, some have moved underground to offer children a semblance of normalcy. Hidden in basements, these makeshift classrooms are a quiet defiance of war.
A concierge rings a bell, and a chaotic yet joyful stream of children rushes to their desks. They rise in unison to greet their teacher with a spirited “Hello!” before they sit and open their textbooks.
The more serious ones sit straight in their chairs, and others whisper to each other’s ears while the teacher starts checking everyone’s homework.
This could be a typical class day everywhere—except it’s a basement, and a pile of sandbags block the view of the few windows of the room. For Russia, even schools are targets.
One of the schools nearby was recently destroyed, and this one, whose location and name we can’t disclose for safety reasons, took all their pupils so they could continue to attend school normally.
“Children must see each other, they must communicate, they must have contact with the teacher,” Valentyna Stavnycha, one of the teachers, told us.
Broken childhood
While children in Sumy have to follow school online, here, an hour's drive from the city, the administration decided to keep classes open under the requirements that lessons should be conducted in thoroughly checked shelters.
The most dangerous here is the trip from home.
This school is not the only one in this case: in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, schools also go underground to adapt to the new reality of war.
A police officer stands near the entrance, where an improvised infirmary has been set up in case someone gets wounded by a shelling.
The Sumy region is under near-constant Russian bombardment. A recent ballistic missile attack on Sumy killed at least 11 civilians, including two children, and injured 89 others. Another attack on a dormitory in the region killed 12 on November 18, including seven-year-old Vasyl.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, more than 2,180 children have been killed or injured, and more than 1,300 educational facilities in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed, according to UNICEF.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that over 3,800 schools have been impacted, putting a severe strain on Ukraine’s education system.
Education front
Russian strikes are not the only danger for Ukrainian children. A poster showing mines and unexploded ordnance devices warns the toddlers not to approach them or play around. Once a week, military personnel or police officers visit to teach students how to avoid war remnants.
Ukraine has become the world’s most heavily mined country, reported former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in an interview for the Guardian in August 2023.
A total of 156,000 square kilometers—25% of Ukraine’s territory—are potentially contaminated with mines as of February 2024, reported Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
“They need to learn that kind of thing; unfortunately, this is our new reality,” Stavnycha said.
On this day, pupils are studying mathematics, Ukrainian, literature, and English. The shelter can hold four classes for roughly 50 children who spend most of the day inside.
When the bell rings for a break, children assault the improvised lunch table on a corner to buy homemade pyrizhky (info: meat buns in Ukrainian).
“It’s also part of the mathematics lesson,” jokes Stavnycha.
They’re allowed to play outside, just in front of the shelter, unless the sinister sound of the air raid alert resonates in the city’s street.
At first glance, the youngsters don’t look particularly stressed or traumatized. However, some suddenly turn when they hear a shock due to repair upstairs.
Some traumas are not necessarily visible, explained Stavnycha, and the parents often transfer their own stress to their children, she said.
“Parents are often the most stressed, but it’s understandable with this war, and we’re doing everything to reassure them,” she said. “Here, underground, they’re safe.”
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