Ukrainian students are beginning their fifth school year since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, with no end to the conflict in sight. In Kyiv’s Obolon district, balloons floated over a schoolyard on Tuesday, hours after Russian ballistic missiles struck the city overnight. Despite the chaos, parents and children in festive outfits gathered to celebrate the traditional start of the academic year, only to scatter when an air raid alert sounded. The cheerful music and laughter were quickly replaced by the distant sound of explosions. The war has forced thousands of Ukrainian schools to adapt, shifting to remote or hybrid learning, teaching in shelters, or closing in areas that have been destroyed or occupied by Russia. Russian attacks have destroyed an estimated 1 million textbooks, and officials are preparing for what could be one of the war’s harshest winters. Ukraine has limited means to intercept the increasing number of high-speed Russian ballistic missiles, and waves of Shahed drones, which are jet-powered and designed to linger over targets, have stretched some attacks over multiple days. School principal Yevhen Poliakov of Lyceum Obolon in Kyiv considered canceling the ceremony due to the constant threat of air raids. However, the school has a shelter, and he felt confident the children could reach safety quickly. Schools across Ukraine must remain flexible, and Kyiv’s education system plans to start the academic year with a mix of in-person and remote classes, adjusting based on the security situation. As of August, Ukraine’s education minister said that 8,424 schools would operate in person, 1,306 remotely, and 2,211 in a blended format—nearly a third of schools cannot fully open in person. Poliakov has tried to keep students in the classroom, noting the drawbacks of remote learning. “Parents need to work and earn money,” he said. “It’s better for a child to be under our supervision than alone on the ninth floor while mom and dad are at work.” His school uses Mriia, Ukraine’s national education app, to support remote learning and connect students, parents, and teachers. The school is also upgrading its shelter and stockpiling firewood in preparation for potential winter blackouts. Elsewhere in Kyiv, only a few children attended an informal ceremony at a school damaged in a recent Russian attack. Windows, hallways, and equipment in three buildings were damaged, and most students began the year online. Oksana Herasymchuk and her daughter, who started middle school, attended despite the damage. Her daughter began first grade in 2022, months after Russia’s invasion, and the family has struggled to adjust to wartime conditions. “Our children’s age group has faced a lot of trials,” Herasymchuk said. Yevhen Yurko brought his 6-year-old son Darii to the school on the boy’s first day. Darii had his first lesson online but wanted to see the school in person. Yurko photographed his son wearing a traditional embroidered vyshyvanka shirt in the nearly empty schoolyard. “Even like this, I still wanted something to remember this day by,” Yurko said. He and his wife plan to stay in Kyiv and keep Darii in the school, believing he can learn there even if classes are held in a basement. Since the full-scale invasion, 318 education facilities in Kyiv have been damaged, including 156 schools, according to the city’s education department. Some schools have been hit multiple times, and the number of first-graders in Kyiv has dropped by about 40% since 2022. Anna Putsova, a co-founder of the savED charitable foundation, said the Ukrainian education system feels like a “constant obstacle course.” Conditions change so rapidly that schools struggle to keep up. The war has caused significant learning loss, a shrinking student population, and a heavy burden on schools and teachers. Since 2021, the number of schoolchildren in Ukraine has fallen by more than 755,000, or 17.5%. Putsova emphasized that the impact of the war on education extends beyond the classroom, affecting the country’s future workforce and technological capabilities.