Ukraine teen poses in graduation dress in front of bombed school in powerful picture

A teenager from Ukraine poses for a photo in front of her destroyed school. (Image: @avalaina/Twitter)

A Ukrainian student’s dreams of graduating high school all dressed up with her friends turned to dust, tragically quite literally, when her school was bombed by Russians. Now, as the war continues to rage, the teen wore a flaming red dress, purchased for her graduation, and posed in front of her dilapidated school building for a photo.

Oleksandra Matviichuk, the head of the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine shared the now viral photograph for her niece Anna Episheva posing in front of what remains of her school in the war-torn former Soviet republic.

"Anna Episheva: My niece was supposed to graduate this year from her high school. She and her friends bought dresses and were looking forward to this day. Then Russians came. Her school was directly hit and destroyed. Today she came back to what is left of her school and her plans,” the tweet reads. Over 44,000 people have ‘liked’ the photo of the teen - all dressed up - against a gloomy backdrop.

Anna Episheva: My niece was supposed to graduate this year from her high school. She and her friends bought dresses and were looking forward to this day. Then Russians came. Her school was directly hit and destroyed. Today she came back to what is left of her school and her plans pic.twitter.com/q9cJW2j8f0

— Oleksandra Matviichuk (@avalaina) June 7, 2022

“Very powerful photo. It speaks a lot about your resilience,” commented another.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 and since then, series of bombardments have destroyed key structures, hospitals and even residential buildings in the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the offensive in Ukraine a “special military operation” and thousands died and millions got displaced from their homes.

Food, shelter and financial security are in shambles for the refugees and survivors of the blood-soaked war that has shown no signs of halting even after months.