Ukrainian children join parade marking first day of school near front line

First year pupils enjoy a traditional ceremony for the first day of school in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

Just hours after a dawn air raid alarm rang through the city, Zaporizhzhia schoolchildren celebrated the traditional first day of school on Sunday.

A mere 25 miles from the front line, the war is never far from the minds of teachers and families at one school in the city. Because of a ban on large gatherings in the city, which is regularly struck by Russian artillery and missiles, only students starting their first and last years were allowed in the celebratory parade.