Date of publication: 09 Jun 2022 • 5 hours ago • 3 minutes reading • 117 Comments Valeria is standing in her graduation gown in front of her demolished high school in Kharkov, Ukraine in early June. Photo courtesy of Nadia
Content of the article
Like most high school seniors, Valerie looked forward to graduation. She and her friends designed the night to perfection. They organized the ornaments and choreographed dance routines for the event scheduled to take place at their school.
Advertising 2
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
And, of course, Valerie bought a dress. She bought a beautiful red dress on February 22, two days before Russian troops invaded Ukraine and five days before bombing her school. On June 6, Valerie stood among the ruins of what was once School # 134 in Kharkov, Ukraine, a city just one hour from the Russian border. Kharkiv has been heavily bombed since the beginning of the war, leaving almost half the city devastated, including many schools. When I looked at the school I wanted to cry because it was the best school, there are many memories left Valerie’s mom, Nadia, and some of the other parents of students still in Kharkov decided to bring the graduates back to school to say goodbye to them, in a makeshift graduation event that did not look at all like the one they had planned. At this event, Nadia took a photo of her daughter in her red graduation gown standing in front of her demolished school. She shared the photo with Valerie’s aunt Anna, who lives in Toronto. Anna posted it on Facebook and since then it has been shared more than 12,000 times.
Advertising 3
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
“I thought the image was so strong because it represents all those children graduating from Ukraine,” Anna said. “Everyone is cracked.” Nadia, Anna and Valerie asked to use only their first names in this story to protect their identities from fear of retaliation for talking about the war. Anna explained that Valerie’s school had survived World War II. He had also educated four generations of their family. “Valerie, her dad, her grandfather and her great-grandmother went there,” Anna said. When she returned to school, Valerie said she was in “incredible pain” as the time she spent at school was “the best years of her life”. “I spent 11 years there,” he said in an email. “When I looked at the school I wanted to cry because it was the best school, there are many memories left.” The students who returned to school also made a video that was posted on Facebook showing them dancing together in front of the ruins. Valerie also appears in her dress, walking in what is left of the halls of her former school.
Advertising 4
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
On the morning of February 27, Russian spies occupied 134 schools. After intense battles, the enemy was destroyed by the Ukrainians …
Published by Konstantin Nemichev on Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Anna said she was glad the photo had gone viral, as she encouraged those in other countries, especially Canada, to pay attention to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He hopes to encourage people to make donations.
He mentioned a number of charities that accept money through donations. These include the Canadian organization Help Us Help, which raises funds for many different initiatives, US-based Liberty Ukraine, which receives donations for humanitarian aid, and the Ukrainian team of volunteer paramedics.
Despite the war, Anna said Valerie hopes to continue her education and go to university. In a time of uncertainty, she said she hopes her niece will not forget her bright future.
“I’m so proud of her,” Anna said. “He brought everyone’s attention back to our country and reminded them that we are not done with the war.”
Share this article on your social network
Advertising
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
NP Posted
Sign up to receive daily top stories from National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. By clicking the subscribe button you agree to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300
Thank you for your registration!
A welcome email is on its way. If you do not see it, check the junk folder. The next issue of NP Posted will be in your inbox soon. We encountered a problem with your registration. PLEASE try again
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but political forum for discussion and encourages all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour to monitor before appearing on the site. We ask that you retain your comments regarding and with respect. We’ve enabled email notifications — you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, an update on a comment thread that follows, or if a user follows the comments. See the Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to customize your email settings.
