A lost childhood: Inside the Ukrainian school shut by war where children’s drawings of the conflict line the walls

Published

1 year ago

January 24, 2024

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Invading Russian troops – arms up, faces scared – drown in a river in the frontline city of Kherson as a Ukrainian soldier watches on, rifle raised.

The image, drawn by a child, is among a line of pictures, including of jets, tanks and corpses, that illustrates Ukraine’s lost childhood after almost two years of full-scale war.

They hang on a wall inside a school – shut for normal lessons – where a charity offers support to the dwindling number of children in Kherson whose parents have yet to flee.

One six-year-old boy, looking at the sketches, says his favourite is of a large Ukrainian tank.

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“I like tanks,” says Ivan Rozsoha, clutching the hand of his grandmother, who brings him to the school for speech therapy.

The little boy, dressed in a puffy winter coat and a woolly hat, says it is scary when Russian troops launch artillery, drone and missile strikes against his city – a daily occurrence.

“When rockets fall, I try to hide my head under my toys,” Ivan says, gesturing with his hands.

He wants to become a soldier when he grows up and thinks Russia is bad, saying: “They are destroying Ukraine and I know how to destroy them.”

Zina Rozsoha, 67, his grandmother, appears distressed to hear such heavy thoughts from a child. Asked how she feels, she just says: “Tears.”

The speech therapy takes place in a classroom with more than a dozen other children, aged around four to seven, sitting at tables, clutching crayons and coloured pencils.

Anastasia Andryushchenko, a therapist, encourages them to express themselves through art, by drawing sad and happy faces, and then to explain why they have chosen these expressions.

She says a growing number of children in Kherson struggle with speech. Some no longer talk at all, terrorised by the fighting and with little chance to socialise.

“War has affected them profoundly in terms of their mental health,” the therapist says.

She adds: “In the last lesson, we were drawing Christmas trees with the children.

“Everyone had to draw a Christmas tree from their imagination. A lot of children drew a Christmas tree with explosions, with grenades. There was even a nuclear Christmas tree, which soldiers were defending.”

Loss of innocence

The loss of innocence is hardly surprising given everything that Ukraine’s children have endured since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022.

Russian troops occupied Kherson, in southern Ukraine, from the early days of the war. Ukrainian forces managed to push them out just over eight months later.

However, efforts to surge deeper into Russian-held territory have faltered and the frontline remains on the eastern side of the Dnipro river that marks the southern edge of the city.

Air raid sirens and artillery are the soundtrack for the few thousand children who still live in Kherson – their parents unwilling or unable to leave.

Schools and nurseries are shut, so all lessons take place online at home – whenever there is power and an internet connection.

In a small, single-storey house on a modest residential street, six-year-old Yeva Lykhenko plays alone with her doll house in her bedroom – it is too dangerous to play outside.

The fair-haired girl with a shy smile does not like online learning and rarely has the chance to mix with other children.

“She does not have a childhood. They just took it away,” says her mother, Emma Lykhenko, 37.

At night, Yeva is often kept awake by explosions.

“When it is very loud, I always come to her and say: ‘Do not be afraid, mummy is with you’,” the mother says.

“I try not to show I am worried or nervous, but inside I am just praying.”

The mother says she does not want to move away, in part because of the cost but also because there is no guarantee that other cities would be completely safe.

“I am telling myself all the time: just a little bit longer and victory will happen,” she adds.

Rare access to the most dangerous part of Kherson

Sky News has been given rare access to an island that lies between the two banks of the Dnipro river.

It is effectively a dividing line between Ukrainian and Russian troops, though further along some Ukrainian forces have made it across to the east bank amid fierce fighting.

The island is the most dangerous part of Kherson. Yet a few families, with young children, still live here as well.

We approach some dreary-looking, concrete apartment blocks that frame an empty playground of rusty climbing frames and swings in a residential section of the island.

On the ninth floor of one of the buildings, a young couple live with their two small daughters, Varvara, two, and Arina, who is just 18 months old.

Their apartment is tiny, filled with blankets and cushions to keep the family warm whenever the power cuts off – it has just come back on when we meet them after a three-week outage following an attack on a local energy facility.

The temperature outside is freezing.

The mother, Anastasia Tatarinova, who looks to be in her early 20s, says life is hard and the threat from Russian forces is growing.

“There are very huge explosions,” she says, sitting on a sofa and cuddling her youngest child on her lap.

“Yesterday there was a drone flying overhead. It is really worrying. All the time we are stressed.”

She was pregnant with Arina when the full-scale invasion started. The little girl, her hair pulled into a mini ponytail on the top of her head, has known nothing but war.

“She heard bombing from my tummy so has never seen normal life,” Ms Tatarinova says.

“We are afraid to play on the playground so we are staying home. It is very dangerous outside because there is shelling all the time.”

Asked whether the family will leave if the situation worsens, she says: “If it continues like that, of course, why would we stay here? We will have no choice then.”

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Football ‘too important’ to surrender

Despite the danger, some children back towards the centre of Kherson are still clinging to one passion – football.

Boys take aim towards a goal inside a well-used sports hall in a metal hanger with a curved roof, tucked in between residential blocks and deserted market stalls.

A coach blows a whistle as the children race around, kicking footballs.

Sitting in a changing room pulling up his sports socks, 12-year-old Rostislav Semenyuk says his dream is “to become a second Lionel Messi”.

He would also like to be a politician when he grows up.

The boy says he can barely remember what life was like before the war.

Asked if he can think of anything that he misses, he says: “More games – football games. There are fewer matches now.”

The head football coach says his boys and girls – the girls are due to train the next day – are not able to play matches in the Kherson region because it is too risky.

Instead, they travel to areas further away from the frontline to take on other teams.

Vyachslav Rol says the opportunity to train is “very important”.

“Children are suffering from the war so they need to distract themselves,” the coach says.

“The only opportunity for them to communicate with each other is at our training.”

A second boy, in a maroon-coloured kit, says football is his life.

“I love to train,” says Kyrylo Tsyvilskiy, 12, taking a brief pause to chat.

“My dream is I want my friends to come back, for the war to be over and for all these Russians never to exist.”

World

Drone attacks are intensifying in Sudan – hitting schools and camps homing the displaced

Published

14 hours ago

May 3, 2025

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Drone attacks are intensifying in Sudan - hitting schools and camps homing the displaced

The smell of explosives is still in the air when we arrive.

Hours before, a displacement camp in Atbara housing families who fled the war in Sudan’s capital Khartoum was hit by two drone strikes in a four-pronged attack.

The first bomb on 25 April burned donated tents and killed the children in them.

The second hit a school serving as a shelter for the spillover of homeless families.

Chunks of cement and plaster had been blasted off the walls of the classrooms where they slept when the second explosive was dropped.

Blood marked the entrance of the temporary home closest to the crater.

Inside, shattered glass and broken window frames speak to the force of the explosion. We were told by their neighbours that four people in the family were instantly killed.

“People were torn apart. This is inhumane,” says their neighbour Mahialdeen, whose brother and sister were injured. “We are praying that God lifts this catastrophe. We left Khartoum because of the fighting and found it here.”

Wiping a tear, he says: “It is chasing us.”

The sanctuary city held by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) about 200 miles northeast of Khartoum has been hit by six drone attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since the start of the year.

These latest strikes are the most deadly.

The drones – known for targeting civilian infrastructure – hit the displacement camp twice, the nearby power station supplying the city with electricity and an empty field with four bombs in the dark, early hours of the morning. First responders have told Sky News that 12 people were killed, including at least two children.

RSF increasingly using drones to carry out attacks

Data from the conflict-monitoring organisation ACLED shows the RSF has carried out increasing numbers of drone attacks across the country.

The most targeted states have been Khartoum and North Darfur, where fighting on the ground has been fierce, as well as Atbara’s River Nile State.

The data suggests that the increase in strikes has been driven by a change in tactics following the SAF’s recapture of Khartoum in late March, with the number of strikes carried out by the RSF spiking shortly after their withdrawal from the capital.

Satellite imagery shows the RSF’s airpower has allowed it to continue to attack targets in and around Khartoum.

Nearby Wadi Seidna Airbase was targeted after the attack on Atbara, with damage visible across a large area south of its airfield.

We were given access to the remains of latest suicide drones launched at Khartoum and could not find discernible signs of commercial origin.

Drone experts told Sky News that they are self-built devices made from generic parts with no identifiable manufacturers for the components.

Drones sighted in South Darfur are consistent with Chinese models

High-resolution satellite images confirm the presence of drones at the RSF-held Nyala Airport.

While the total number of drones kept at this location is unknown, imagery from Planet Labs shows six on 24 April.

This is the highest number of drones observed at the airport, suggesting an increase in the RSF’s available airpower.

The location and number of drones visible in satellite imagery at Nyala Airport has varied over time, suggesting they are in active use.

While it is not possible to determine the exact model of drones sighted at Nyala Airport, a report published by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Lab has previously found them to be consistent with the Chinese-produced FH-95.

Analysis carried out by Sky News confirms these findings, with the measurements and visible features matching those of the CH-95 and FH-95. Both designs are produced in China.

The United Arab Emirates is widely accused of supplying Chinese drones to the RSF through South Sudan and Uganda, as well as weapons through Chad. The UAE vehemently denies these claims.

Evidence of new airfields

Satellite imagery viewed by Sky News suggests the RSF has worked to increase its air capabilities outside of South Darfur.

In late 2024, five new airstrips appeared in West Kordofan between the contested cities of North Darfur capital Al Fashir and Khartoum.

While the purpose of these airstrips is unknown, it is clear they carry some level of military significance, having been targeted by air in April.

In high-resolution images, no aircraft can be seen. Damage is visible next to a structure that appears to be an aircraft hangar.

The rapid escalation in drone strikes is being brutally suffered on the ground.

In Atbara’s Police Hospital, we find a ward full of the injured survivors.

One of them, a three-year-old girl called Manasiq, is staring up at the ceiling in wide-eyed shock with her head wrapped in a bandage and her feet covered in dried blood.

Her aunt tells us the explosion flung her small body across the classroom shelter but she miraculously survived.

She has shrapnel in her head and clings onto her aunt as her mother is treated for her own injuries in a ward on the first floor.

In a dark room deeper in the ward, a mother sits on the edge of a hospital bed holding her young injured daughter. Her son, only slightly older, is on a smaller adjustable bed further away.

Fadwa looks forlorn and helpless. Her children were spending the night with relatives in the temporary tents when the first strike hit and killed her eight-year-old son.

His surviving sister and brother have been asking after him, but Fadwa can’t bring herself to break the news.

“What can I say? This is our fate. We fled the war in Khartoum but can’t escape the violence,” Fadwa says, staring off in the distance.

“We are condemned to this fate.”

World

Ship carrying aid for Gaza bombed by drones, as NGO points finger at Israel

Published

1 day ago

May 2, 2025

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Ship carrying aid for Gaza bombed by drones, as NGO points finger at Israel

A ship carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza has been bombed by drones while it was in international waters.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the NGO responsible for the ship, has pointed the finger at Israel.

Video shows fire raging onboard the vessel, which put out an SOS distress call after it was attacked off the coast of Malta.

It comes as the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice continued this week.

Gaza remains under blockade, with Israel having now refused to allow international aid into the devastated enclave for almost two months despite global outcry.

Following the drone attack, the Maltese government confirmed that after several hours all crew were safe and the fire was under control.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said: “Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade (of Gaza) and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters.”

It asserted that the drone attack “appears to have specifically targeted the ship’s generator” and had left the vessel at risk of sinking.

Describing the attack, it said: “Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull.

“The last communication in the early morning of the 2nd of May, indicated the drones are still circling the ship.”

It released video footage shot in the dark that showed lights in the sky in front of the ship and the sound of explosions. The footage also showed the vessel on fire.

The Israeli foreign ministry has not commented on what happened.

Yesterday, UN aid coordinator Tom Fletcher called on Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza, which has been in force for almost two months.

“Yes, the hostages must be released, now. They should never have been taken from their families,” he said.

“But international law is unequivocal: As the occupying power, Israel must allow humanitarian support in.”

Aid should never be a “bargaining chip”, he added.

‘Children going to bed starving’

Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA said: “The siege on Gaza is the silent killer of children, of older people.

“Families – whole families, seven or eight people – are resorting to sharing one can of beans or peas. Imagine not having anything to feed your children. Children in Gaza are going to bed starving.”

World

Germany’s far-right AfD party officially classified as ‘extremist’ organisation

Published

1 day ago

May 2, 2025

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Germany's far-right AfD party officially classified as 'extremist' organisation

Germany’s spy agency has officially classified the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as an “extremist” organisation.

The party has been growing in popularity and came second in February’s general election.

The country’s domestic intelligence agency said on Friday that it was an extremist entity which threatens democracy.

Its 1,000-page internal report claimed views around ethnicity held by the AfD aim to exclude certain groups from equal participation in society.

“The party’s prevailing understanding of the people based on ethnicity and descent is incompatible with the free democratic basic order,” the agency said in a statement.

“Specifically, the AfD considers, for example, German citizens with a migration background from predominantly Muslim countries not equal members of the ethnically defined German people.”

AfD’s co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla described the decision as a “serious blow to German democracy”.

In a joint statement on Friday, they said: “The AfD is now being publicly discredited and criminalised as an opposition party shortly before the change of government.

“The associated, targeted interference in the democratic decision-making process is therefore clearly politically motivated. The AfD will continue to defend itself legally against this defamation that jeopardises democracy.”

The party leaders have consistently denied the party is either far right or extremist.

Local branches of the party in the east German states of Thuringia, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt had already been classified as extremist by regional spy chiefs.

The entire party was also previously designated “suspected” far-right extremist.

However, the announcement allows intelligence agencies to increase surveillance on the group.

It may also embolden opponents to try to get the party banned.

The decision was welcomed by the country’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, who said in a statement that the new assessment was “clear and unequivocal”, adding that the party “discriminates against entire segments of the population and treats citizens with a migration background as second-class Germans”.

She underlined that “there has been no political influence on the findings” but said the new classification was likely to be subject to judicial review.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that although the intelligence agency has provided a “very detailed justification” for the decision, “ban proceedings must not be rushed”.

Anton Baron, a regional politician in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, described the decision as “politically questionable”.

While the ruling is a blow for the party, it is unlikely to influence hardcore supporters, many of whom live in states where the party was already designated extremist at a local level.