Classmates of all ages helped the graduates celebrate Friday, dancing and laughing outside the ramshackle school, near a gutted apartment building. The school was closed several times during the current war between Russian forces and Chechen rebels, which has raged since September 1999, and the last war, in 1994-6. Even though Russian forces have claimed to control Grozny and most of Chechnya for the past year, daily violence is palpable. Rebels who make their way into the capital clash at night with Russian forces or pro-Moscow Chechen police. Remote-control mines explode around the city.
Civilians including children often fall victim to the violence.
We aren't scared of them anymore, we've already seen a lot. Her school, she said, was lucky. The students then have a week off before exams begin June 1, and formal graduation parties are held at the end of June. For all the difficulty of school life in Grozny, adult life is even more daunting for Aliyev. I love poetry and would love to get a literature education.