Every effort has been made to reopen classrooms as quickly as possible. But it wasn't until 17 months after the withdrawal of Russian forces from the martyred town of Bucha, on the western outskirts of Kyiv, that all pupils returned. School Number 3 has been given a facelift: the shattered roof and blown-out windows have been repaired and the angry graffiti of Russian soldiers has been covered with several coats of paint. On Monday, November 20, classrooms were full and corridors were noisy with pupils. More than 1,500 schoolchildren aged between six and 16 – including 120 displaced young persons from regions close to the front line – returned to school in September, according to vice-principal Natalya Khartchenko.

The Bucha school is one of 50 schools visited by the NGO Human Rights Watch as part of an investigation into destruction caused by the Russian invasion. Published on November 9, the report, entitled "Tanks on the Playground: Attacks on Schools and Military Use of Schools in Ukraine," documents the destruction caused by Russian airstrikes and artillery fire in the early months of the invasion on schools in four regions of the country.

Human Rights Watch also visited schools occupied by Kremlin forces, used as military barracks, hospitals, torture centers and prisons for civilians. To a lesser extent, Ukrainian soldiers have also taken up positions in schools.

"The attacks have had a devastating impact on Ukrainian children's access to education during the war and likely long after, as the repair and reconstruction of schools, particularly amid other destroyed civilian infrastructure, will require major resources and time," said the report's authors. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science, over 3,428 institutions, including universities and orphanages, have been damaged and 365 "completely destroyed."

The authorities are racing against time to bring school leavers back up to standard while ensuring their safety. Each school must have a bomb shelter. School Number 3 in Bucha, for example, was able to reopen its doors because it has its own bomb shelter, capable of accommodating all pupils in the event of an alert.

According to Zoya Lytvyn, director of education NGO Osvitoria, almost 42% of Ukrainian pupils are now back in the classroom every day. "These are schools that are far enough from the front line to allow children two minutes before reaching shelters in the event of an air alert," she said. For others, school continues to operate online, sometimes in a hybrid mode, with classrooms in the morning and videoconferencing in the afternoon.

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