Tim Freischk never imagined spending time at school in the basement. However, when the air raid warning sounded in Kiev on September 2nd, the 5-year-old and his new classmates had no choice but to head underground.
That’s what happens when you start school during the war.
Since Moscow expanded its drone production earlier this year, Russian air attacks have become bigger and more frequent. But most of these attacks have come at night, but there have been more daytime threats in recent weeks.
Kiev alone has experienced more than 1,800 air alerts, which lasted over 2,200 hours in total, since Russia launched its unprovoked full-scale Ukrainian invasion in February 2022.
Each of these alerts puts on hold the lives of millions, part of Russia’s strategy of terrifying and exhausting Ukrainian civilians.
“These massive strikes send the same message that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and other high-ranking Kremlin officials have publicly and repeatedly shown in the past few months.
After years of living under this constant threat, Ukrainian schools developed detailed air raid safety protocols. The freshman orientation includes information on evacuation routes and shelter locations, as well as usual, ordinary, commonplace information about the timetable and dining hall meal ordering system.
Liudmyla Andruk, vice-president of Oriental Language 1 Kyiv Gymnasium, who has just begun as a first-year student, said it would take six minutes for 700 students from the school to go to the shelter.
Like all Ukrainian schools, this is currently home to police officers based in buildings that coordinate evacuation. “Of course, if you know that it’s a ballistic missile threat, you’re trying to get everyone along as quickly as possible,” Andruk said.
The vice-president said physical safety is a priority, but teachers are also responsible for each child’s mental health.
“Each child is different, some people find it allergic to some, some phobia, some find it difficult to sit in the shelter for hours,” she told CNN. “If the alert lasts for hours, I play games, chat with students, tell stories, show them videos. Still, I’m exhausted. It’s hard to concentrate when class resumes.”
Russia has been flooded with increased strength in the Ukrainian sky with drones and missiles in recent months. Earlier this month, we launched over 800 drones and 13 missiles overnight.
Located on the outskirts of Kiev, Rabinamall is Ukraine’s largest shopping centre. At its peak, there were over 20,000 people in over 450 shops and restaurants.
Air raid alarms can cause major logistics headaches. “Now, most people are so used to it that they don’t move fast. We had to increase the number of security staff to guide people and make sure they follow evacuation routes,” Mall CEO Dmytro Lashyn told CNN.
That many people’s movement often leads to massive traffic jams as people try to reach safety.
Rasin told CNN that shopping habits have also changed due to the war. Rather than browsing, people tend to shop with purpose, and get what they need in case the alarm stops the day. Voluntary and emotionally driven purchases are becoming more common.
“Our research shows people live one day at a time. Many people ask themselves.
Cultural events, film screenings, concerts and theatre performances are also regularly affected. Film producer Oleksiy Komarovsky told CNN that Alarm has created an entirely new way of evaluating films.
“The film is really good when people come back to finish the film after a long break,” Komarovsky said.
The scale of these recent attacks means that Ukraine needs help minimizing the impact. And volunteers are playing an increasingly important role in defensive mixes.
Civilians form units tasked with shooting down small drones with machine guns or, more recently, specially developed interceptor drones.
Andriy, the chief of staff for one of the Kyiv volunteer formation corps, said the call sign was Stolyar, but his unit was made up of people from all life, from construction workers to businessmen to poets.
He told CNN that his Legion training lasted about six weeks and included basic knowledge, simulator practice and terrain lessons. Andriy asked for her last name to not be publicly disclosed for security reasons.
“People need to understand how to operate aircraft. Drones are becoming increasingly complex. This is aviation and requires constant attention, knowledge and skills,” he said.
ISW analyst Harward said Russia currently earns around 5,100 long-distance strike drones per month, with reports that there are plans to increase this to 5,700.
“Russia will be able to maintain these large strike packages as long as it can maintain or increase these high production rates,” she said, adding that this is heavily dependent on Moscow’s ability to source components from China.
“Russia cannot maintain this new, higher production pace without these Chinese components,” Harward said.
The US Treasury Department says Chinese companies are offering Russia the so-called double use technology. This is a component that can be used for both civilian and military purposes, such as chips and communications equipment that Russia cannot obtain elsewhere due to Western sanctions.
Lt. Gen. Samuel Paparo, who currently leads the US India-Pacific Command, said in April this year, “China provided 70% of the machine tools and 90% of the legacy chips that allowed Russia to rebuild its war machinery.”
At 5-year-old Tim Hryshchuk’s new school, shelters have been converted into makeshift classrooms, so the time spent underground is not wasted. It can be squeezed tightly as students share desks and portable chalkboards supported by wall pipes.
All students should have a wealth of grab bags filled with water and snacks, as well as stickers with phone numbers and other important information.
That was helpful when Tim’s class had to spend more than three hours in the shelter on the second day.
“I was just sitting there, waiting, eating snacks from my grab bag and playing games,” he told CNN, admitting that he was a bit bored.
