Mariupol, May 23 — DAN. The last bell has sounded on Tuesday for Mariupol high-school seniors for the first time since Ukrainian troops were driven out of the city.
For safety reasons, School No 65 held the ceremony in the gym which had been repaired by Russian construction workers. Traditionally, school-leaving ceremonies are held in the school yards. The gym was decorated with air balloons and DPR and Russian flags.
Some 300 schoolchildren, parents and teachers attended the event. Mariupol mayor Oleg Morgun made a farewell speech to the outgoing students. Then the “last bell” rang to mark the end of the schoolyear. The school-leavers released air balloons into the air as they bid farewell to their school life.
On May 23, DPR schools had end-of-schoolyear ceremonies for 153,000 pupils. Some were held online due to the military situation. In 2023, 14,504 children in the DPR finished 9th grade and 9,207 finished 11th grade.*jk