The Ukrainian teenagers who returned to a war zone for their school prom - BBC News

Three friends who were separated by the war talk about going back home for a special school reunion.

13 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineImage source, POLLY BRADENImage caption, Sofiia (second left), Aliesia (third left) and Yuliia (front) with their friends at Lyceum No 2 school in Mykolaiv before the warBy Katie RazzallCulture and media editorSofiia, Yuliia and Aliesia, three school friends from Mykolaiv in Ukraine, were 16 years old when war broke out. They were regular teenagers looking forward to sleepovers and trips to the beach near their home city.

But after 24 February 2022, the girls and their families scattered across Europe.

For two years, they have connected almost entirely online, using Telegram and Snapchat.

"Many of us feel overwhelmed by the loss of friends and the inability to meet them," Yuliia says.

Incredibly, though, they did see each other again in person last summer, in their bombed-out hometown for a school prom.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68430049

---