Over the past two years, children living on the front lines in Ukraine have been forced to spend 3,000 to 5,000 hours, or 4 to 7 months, in basements or subway stations during wartime air raids. This was announced in a statement by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) during the commemoration of the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion.
According to UNICEF, since the start of the full-scale war in February 2022, air strikes have triggered about 3,500 cases in Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions and almost 6,200 cases in Donetsk region.
Catherine Russell, the executive director of UNICEF, emphasized that the constant shelling leaves children in Ukraine with almost no chance to recover from the suffering and trauma related to the war. Every sound of explosions brings more stress. According to her, education gives children a sense of hope and stability, but many Ukrainian schoolchildren have problems accessing it or cannot get an education at all because of the war.
According to UNICEF, half of children between the ages of 13 and 15 experience psychological effects of war, such as sleep problems and post-traumatic stress disorder. The organization emphasizes that 40% of children throughout Ukraine and half of the children in advanced territories have difficulties accessing education due to insufficient conditions.
In the two years since the beginning of the war, UNICEF has strengthened its activities in Ukraine, providing humanitarian aid and support to children and their families in various regions of the country. The main goal of the foundation is to provide children with access to education, health care, protection and psychosocial support.
Today marks two years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This period began with the arrival of the first column of Russian tanks in the Luhansk region around 3:40 a.m., as well as with missile attacks on the territory of Ukraine.
