Children of war: Haunting echoes of the Blitz as, with fear in their eyes, Ukraine’s young are led down into a bomb bunker to hide from Vladimir Putin’s air raids
- Primary school pupils in Ukraine are seen being led down in single file into an underground bomb shelter
- Many of the children from the Number One school in the city of Druzhkivka had to be hoisted up by adults
- Four metro stations in Kyiv are also being transformed into air raid shelters as capital braces itself for violence
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They are heartbreaking scenes we hoped we’d never see in Europe again.
Huddled together on numbered benches, fear and apprehension in their eyes, these are the children of the Donetsk region being led through drills as war exploded across Ukraine.
In images which brought back memories of the Blitz, the primary school pupils were led down in single file into an underground bomb shelter as they prepared for an assault from Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Too small to climb on to the shelter’s ledges themselves, many of the children from the Number One school in the city of Druzhkivka had to be hoisted up by adults.
Huddled together on numbered benches, fear and apprehension in their eyes, these are the children of the Donetsk region being led through drills as war exploded across Ukraine
There they hunkered down, their arms curled around their knees, awaiting their fate. They are scenes likely to become only more common following yesterday’s full-scale invasion.
Air raid drills at the school normally take place twice a year, according to the BBC which captured the footage. But there was an extra, emergency exercise on Wednesday.
In Kharkiv – the country’s second largest city – children learned about bulletproof vests and explosives. They also practised evacuation drills and first aid which defence specialist Oleksandr Shevchuk said would help prevent ‘children getting injured, or, God forbid, death’.
He added: ‘We let them try on our uniforms, bulletproof vests and helmets. Show them what explosive items can be, so that they can become aware of situations that may happen to them.’
Four metro stations in Kyiv are also being transformed into air raid shelters as the capital braces itself for violence once again.
In images which brought back memories of the Blitz, the primary school pupils were led down in single file into an underground bomb shelter as they prepared for an assault from Vladimir Putin’s forces
There they hunkered down, their arms curled around their knees, awaiting their fate. They are scenes likely to become only more common following yesterday’s full-scale invasion
Too small to climb on to the shelter’s ledges themselves, many of the children from the Number One school in the city of Druzhkivka had to be hoisted up by adults
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