A few kilometers from the southern front, in the Mykolaiv region, the ruins of a school encapsulate the destruction wrought by Russia on Ukrainian education. A few stuffed animals lie on the floor. Small tables are covered with debris that has fallen from the ceiling. The front of the building collapsed. At the back, without a roof, a wall has collapsed, revealing the remains of a gymnasium. All around, charred corpses and abandoned children’s toys.

Left intact in the first days of the war, the village was demolished as soon as Ukrainian troops settled there, according to municipal council chairman Sergui. Only 25 of the 1,700 people were left. Sergui remembers with emotion the institution where 190 children studied from kindergarten to high school. His wife ran a computer lab there and his elder had completed his B.Sc.

“We invested many hours and efforts to make the school better. The classes were wonderful. Even our canteen was better than other places,” he laments. Inside, the letters painted on the wall – “A” for bus, “T” for “tractor”… – now Overturned furniture, books lying on the floor “The Russians deliberately targeted the school. I hate them,” says Sergui.