UKRAINIAN children have been seen gathering in underground classrooms as they stay safe from Vladimir Putin's devastating Kharkiv offensive.
Schools stayed open despite the fresh Russian blitz on the battered city as kids were forced into bomb-proof bunkers by brave teachers.
It comes as Russian snipers take aim above ground at anyone trying to flee to safety.
Thousands of school children aged between six and 16 are being taught in five converted metro stations away from Putin’s horror bombardments.
Some of the old stations, where locals fled to at the start of the brutal Ukraine war, even have miniature playgrounds inside.
The Sun visited one of the renovated schools earlier this year and spoke to teacher Olenna Volodomyr, who said: “It is strange having classes underground, but it is the only way to teach face to face.
“It is much better for the children.
“The children feel safe here, we feel safe here, and the parents feel better because they know their children are safe.”
As the children remain safe underground, thousands of adults have been trying to escape the fighting altogether since the second bloody assault on Kharkiv was launched on Friday.
Military policeman Vlad Yefarov was trying to rescue a pensioner trapped in the north-east border town of Vovchansk when Russian snipers shot at him.
Vlad told : “We were driving past the old shoemaker’s factory when a Russian sniper’s bullet hit the windscreen right in front of me.
“We tried to turn around, but as we did so, a Russian machine-gunner opened fire on us, and the sniper put another round in my driver’s side window.”
This is just one horrific example of Russian fighters bullying Ukrainian civilians and not allowing them to leave areas, such as Kharkiv, where fighting has brutally intensified.
It was also revealed earlier today, that Russian forces had managed to seize miles of ground in the shock offensive.
Putin's troops claimed they captured five villages this morning.
They later said four more had been taken in the last few hours taking the total to nine.
Ukraine's armed forces admitted Moscow had achieved some “tactical successes” around the north-eastern city near the Russian border over the weekend.
Russian troops marched between two and five miles in a multipronged attack across more than 20 miles of front line.
Close to 40,000 soldiers and 500 tanks had been amassed along the border ahead of the large-scale ground attack Kyiv had feared was coming for weeks.
Kharkiv’s regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said: “The enemy is trying to deliberately stretch the front line, attacking in small groups, but in new directions.”
Last night, fighting raged on the outskirts of bomb-blitzed Vovchansk and nearby Lyptsi, which sit a few miles south of the Russia-Ukraine frontier.
Almost 6,000 civilians fled Vovchansk although 300 remain, local officials said yesterday.
Despite Putin's relative success with gaining ground he has reportedly suffered record losses with 1,740 killed in a single day of war.
Russian troops are being continuously thrown into meatgrinder assaults in northeastern Ukraine as part of the brutal new ground offensive.
Ukrainian soldiers said the Kremlin is using the tried-and-tested Russian tactic of launching human wave attacks - sending forward a disproportionate amount of infantry units to exhaust Ukrainian troops and firepower.
Dramatic footage also showed Ukraine decimating a column of five tanks from above as they attempted to plough further into the Kharkiv region.
Analysts say the Russian onslaught is designed to exploit ammunition shortages before promised Western weapons shipments can reach the frontline.
Russia first stepped up attacks on Kharkiv in March targeting energy infrastructure and settlements with constant airstrikes in what analysts predicted were preparations for a new offensive.
Its mayor had warned the West that it risked being turned into a "second Aleppo" - the Syrian city which heavy Russian bombing helped to decimate a decade ago.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukrainian troops had been carrying out counterattacks in the border villages.
"Disrupting Russian offensive plans is now our number one task," he said.
Troops must "return the initiative to Ukraine", the president insisted, again urging allies to speed up arms deliveries.
The key moment in the conflict comes as Putin sacked his long-term defence minister and appointed a tech geek with zero military experience.
Civilian Andrei Belousov, 65, will now take the reins of Russia's war in Ukraine as the Kremlin ruler carries out a major shake-up of his cabinet.
The Institute for the Study War said the high-level reshuffle signals that Putin is taking significant steps to prepare for a protracted war in Ukraine and a possible future confrontation with Nato.
