Life in Ukraine after one year of war: 'Exhausted, but not broken'

A year after my first visit to the war-torn Ukraine, I am back on Maidan square in the heart of Kyiv, at the very same spot I stood at on the first day of Russia's all-out invasion of the country. Most barricades have gone, and there are no piles of sandbags.

But I found that what hasn’t changed, is the extraordinary resilience that the Ukrainians continue to demonstrate, despite everything.

In towns and cities devastated by the war, I came to hear the personal accounts of those whose lives and families were torn apart, but are refusing to lose hope.

Irpin, the gateway to Ukraine's capital, was one of the hardest hit cities during the Russian offensive on the Kyiv region. A year later, residents are trying to return to some semblance of normalcy.

Like every morning, the children rush to start their day at the Myria Lyceum school. Evacuated and bombed during the battle of Kyiv, the establishment reopened its doors in autumn for the start of the school year.

Everything has been planned in the event of an air alert or power failure, which are still frequent.

"All the children are organised with their teachers, they know where to go, [and] in what shelter," explained the Headmaster, Ivan Myronovych Ptashnyk.

In order not to overcrowd the shelters during alerts, the children who can come to school also alternate between class and distance learning. Many of these pupils were displaced abroad or across the country before returning to school.

Teenagers are required to learn how to handle weapons. A legacy from the Soviet era that made them smile before the war. Not anymore.

"Unfortunately, we need to learn that, to defend our Ukraine, our homes, and our families," says 16 year old Anastasia.

The village of Gorenka, in the Bucha district,