Holding hands under the watchful eye of their teacher, frightened Ukrainian children are led to a bomb-proof bunker yesterday as Vladimir Putin launches his latest attack on their city.
As the Kremlin’s so-called “second invasion” of Ukraine gained momentum, students at a Kharkiv school went underground in search of respite.
The big city, where more than a million Ukrainians once again fear for their lives, has not been seriously threatened for two years.
In early 2022, against all odds, the Russian invaders were repelled after bombarding it with rockets and even prohibited cluster munitions.
While the students were led to the makeshift, airtight, windowless school, those closest to the front line fled the fighting.
Holding hands and under the watchful eye of their teacher, some frightened Ukrainian children are led to a bomb-proof bunker.
As the Kremlin’s so-called “second invasion” of Ukraine was gathering pace, students at a school in Kharkiv went underground in search of respite.
Students in a lesson taking place in one of the airtight, windowless makeshift classrooms.
Vovchansk is located about 45 kilometers northeast of Kharkiv and was in the crosshairs of Vladimir Putin’s forces yesterday.
As the Russian army advanced, thousands of men, women and children left the city.
Only an estimated 2,500 of its 17,000 residents remained yesterday as fighting intensified and, despite their valiant efforts, outgunned Ukrainian troops were forced to withdraw.
The speed of Russia’s advance has been attributed to poorly constructed fortifications around Vovchansk and persistent problems related to lack of ammunition and weaponry.
Younger students in a lesson taking place in the underground bunker while their city is under attack.
A teacher continues teaching her students in her classroom bunker despite Putin’s latest attack taking place above them.
Mass civilian evacuations are underway from border towns in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine amid intense Russian shelling and troop movements. The photo shows a house destroyed after the bombing on May 12, 2024 in Vovchansk.
A fire spreads through a forest after shelling on the outskirts of Vovchansk, Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, May 12, 2024.
Frustrated Ukrainian troops suggested that the Russians had been able to simply “get in.”
Local officials fear Vovchansk could become the next Bakhmut, the city devastated last year by Russian scorched earth tactics.
Since Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, repelled an attack in early 2022, it has become a beacon of resistance.
But Russia is once again on the march and its troops are better equipped and more tactically adept.
The intensity of the attacks appeared to take Ukrainian commanders and their Western advisers by surprise after months of little movement on the 620-mile front line.