379 children have been killed since the war in Ukraine began; 223 are missing; 7,013 children have been forcibly transferred to Russia. Six months of war have damaged 2,400 schools and destroyed 269. Most teenagers are anxious about returning to school. For Mariia Makohin, walking through the college gates was an act of bravery. ‘I was a little bit nervous because I don’t know what Russian terrorists will do nowadays. Every day we have sirens, and I don’t know if they will attack us when we are at school.’ The return to school routine introduced a new ritual: a practice run to the school’s bomb shelter in the basement. In schools across Ukraine, debris has been cleared, blood scrubbed off floors, and repairs made where possible as a generation of shell-shocked children return to their studies. Only half of Ukraine’s schools have reopened, due to extreme risks of bombings.