Students pose outside a damaged building for a high-school graduation photoshoot in Chernihiv, Ukraine, June 5, 2022.

Instagram/@senykstas/Handout via Reuters

Ukrainian teenagers mark graduation by posing in the ruins of their school

Graduation day is one of the most important milestones in a student's life. However, the ongoing war has led to a year like no other for Ukrainian students. Many have seen their schools and homes bombed by Russian troops.

Now, pictures of a group of high school students in war-torn Ukraine which shows them posing in front of destroyed buildings and wrecked vehicles are going viral on the internet. The war has brought a near-daily bombardment leading to heartbreaking images being relayed across the world.

The post has been shared by Daria Kaleniuk, an executive director at Anti-Corruption Action Centre in Ukraine, on Twitter on Monday.

"Graduation at Chernigiv school," she captioned the post.

According to Reuters, the photographer who was capturing the photos was Stanislav Senyk. The 25-year-old told the news agency that after experiencing the traumas of the war firsthand, he intended to capture the "very important story" of about 40 graduating seniors from schools.

"And I'm sure it was very important to capture that in the memory," he was quoted as saying by the New York Post. "And 10-15 years from now, when they have their own children, they can show those pictures to them," the outlet further said.

There are a total of 13 students in the viral photo. With damaged and destroyed buildings in the background, the students can be seen as confident and fearless on their faces.

The post has received over 67,000 likes on Twitter and more than 10,000 people have re-tweeted it.

Users from out of the world have given reactions in the comment section of the post.

A user said, "Heartbreaking but defiant. Good luck kids."

Another wrote, "These photos they keep taking at their bombed-out schools (prom, graduation) are a powerful reminder of what they've lost. I saw the fight at a sports arena and was reminded that even as they're defeating Russian attacks, they're often having to destroy their own buildings."

Meanwhile, Russian forces and their separatist allies are carrying out a major assault on Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, with fierce fighting taking place for the city of Severodonetsk.

Ukraine's soldiers claim to have killed numerous Russian military commanders since Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, but the precise number is unknown since Russia remains silent about its losses. 

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