Tim Hryshchuk did not imagine spending his first day at school in a basement. But when the air raid alert sounded in Kyiv on September 2, the 5-year-old and his new classmates had no choice but to head underground.
That’s what happens when one starts school during a war. Russian aerial attacks have become larger and more frequent since Moscow scaled up its drone production at the start of the year. But while most of these assaults used to come at night, there have been more daytime threats in recent weeks.
Kyiv alone has experienced more than 1,800 air alerts, lasting more than 2,200 hours in total, since Russia launched its unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In the first two weeks of this month, there were, on average, two air raid alarms a day.
Each one of those alerts puts millions of lives on hold – part of Russia’s strategy of terrorizing and exhausting Ukraine’s civilian population.
“These massive strikes send the same message that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and other high-ranking Kremlin officials have been indicating publicly and repeatedly in the past few months – that Russia is not interested in negotiations or stopping its war,” said Christina Harward, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based conflict monitor.
Following years of living under this constant threat, Ukrainian schools have developed detailed air raid safety protocols. The orientation for new students now includes information about evacuation routes and shelter locations, as well as the usual mundane tidbits about timetables and dining hall meal-ordering systems.
Liudmyla Andruk, the deputy head of Kyiv Gymnasium of Oriental Languages 1, where Hryshchuk just started as a first grader, said it takes the school’s 700 students six minutes to get to the shelter.
Like every school in Ukraine, this one now also has a police officer based in the building who coordinates the evacuations. “Of course, if we know that it’s a ballistic missile threat, we are trying to get everyone there as soon as possible,” Andruk said.
The deputy head said that while physical safety is a priority, the teachers also bear responsibility for each child’s mental well-being.
“Each child is different, some have allergies, some phobias, some find it difficult to sit in a shelter for hours,” she told CNN. “If the alert lasts for hours, we play games, let students chat, tell stories, or show videos. Still, they return exhausted, and it’s hard to get them focused once class resumes.”
Russia has been flooding Ukraine’s skies with drones and missiles with growing intensity in recent months. Earlier this month, it launched more than 800 drones and 13 rockets in a single night, the most ever, killing at least 11 civilians across the country.
The Lavina Mall, located on the outskirts of Kyiv, is Ukraine’s largest shopping centre. During peak hours, as many as 20,000 people are inside its more than 450 shops and restaurants, along with a large multiplex cinema.
An air raid alarm can cause a significant logistical headache. “Most people are now so used to alerts that they don’t move fast. We’ve had to increase security staff to guide people and make sure they follow evacuation routes,” Dmytro Lashyn, the mall’s CEO, told CNN.
The movement of that many people often leads to massive traffic jams as people try to reach safety.
Lashyn told CNN that shopping habits have also changed because of the war. Rather than browsing, people tend to shop with purpose, getting what they need just in case an alarm interrupts their day. Spontaneous and emotionally driven purchases are becoming more common.
“Our surveys show that people are living one day at a time. Many ask themselves, ‘Why should I deny myself something? Maybe tomorrow I won’t be in this world anymore because a missile will destroy my house,’” he said.
Cultural events, movie screenings, concerts, and theatre performances are also impacted regularly. So much so that film producer Oleksiy Komarovsky told CNN that the alarms have created a whole new way of rating movies.
“If people come back to finish the film after a long interruption, then the movie is excellent,” Komarovsky said.
