It is the first day of school in Ukraine, and the fourth year since children began studying under the shadow of Russia’s invasion.

Over the course of the war, schools have found different ways to keep lessons going for the young generation.

One school in Bobryk, a village in the northern Sumy region close to the front line, moved its classrooms into a basement so students — who already lost precious years to COVID lockdowns and war — can continue to study in person.

It is just one example of how Ukrainians are adapting to keep life moving with no end in sight to Russia’s grinding assault.

The school was moved underground two years ago. The decision was made when air raid alerts sometimes stretched to 20 hours, paralyzing classes.

The only option was to take cover and, while hiding from possible explosions, to keep studying.

Now, in a basement of an administrative building never meant to be a school, classrooms line the narrow space, some divided only by sheets of heavy plastic. There are no windows or doors. During lessons, the children’s voices blend together in a chorus.

To make it functional, the damp and dark basement was refurbished with ventilation, electricity and new flooring.

On Monday, many arrived in embroidered traditional shirts ‘vyshyvanka’, and teachers’ desks piled up with fresh flowers that children brought as a traditional gift for the start of the year.

Bobryk, with a population of about 2,000, has a small school with classes of about 10 children each. This year, only seven sat in the first-grade room.

The school has just over 100 students. About 10% have left since Russia’s full-scale invasion, and more continue to depart. For a school this small, each loss is felt.

Among the pupils was 7-year-old Eva Tui, starting her third year underground. She remembers with nostalgia her old classroom just 400 meters away, which was warmer in winter and cosier.

“It was more comfortable than in the basement, there were more friends, there were more children,” Eva said.

Because the basement is small, the school runs in two shifts, with shortened breaks.

The original schoolhouse — a beautiful early 20th-century building — now sits empty, its spacious classrooms waiting for students to return when security situation improves.

AP video shot by Vasilisa Stepanenko