When the violence escalated in Ukraine, 14- year old Kostia*and his family left their village on the outskirts of Chernihiv to stay with relatives. Because of the constant fighting in the area, there are frequent power outages that can sometimes last close to eight hours. This make a studying after school a challenge for Kostia, who is in the eighth-grade.
The constant sounds of sirens also interferes with his learning. “When a siren starts, if we are already at school, we go down to the basement. And there we wait until the siren is over. And if the siren starts before I go to school, we stay at home until it ends. Of course, it’s bad. But you can learn,” says Kostia.
Despite the ongoing conflict, Kostia continue his education. “My favourite subjects are physical education and computer science,” he says.