Irpin (AFP) – Schoolchildren in the town of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, mark the start of the academic year with a ceremony, ringing bells and carrying Ukrainian flags. In Irpin’s Mriya school, more than 2,700 students begin the academic year, some returning from abroad. Along with other towns on the outskirts of Kyiv, Irpin was seized and occupied by Russian forces in the weeks after Moscow’s offensive began last year, but was liberated by Kyiv’s forces following a bloody, month-long battle.
