Childhood is the most beautiful time in a person's life. People often recall images of their childhood, specific episodes, with nostalgia and passion. What could be better than a mother's tenderness, a father's strong hand, a cozy and warm home, delicious homemade food, sweet children's sleep, and distant enticing dreams? All of this can be destroyed by a single horrific act — war. And that happened on February 24, 2022, when a gluttonous dictator named putin decided to drink the innocent blood of children and feast on the sacred Ukrainian land.
Millions of people had their happy lives shattered: hundreds of thousands killed, even more wounded, millions of refugees and displaced persons, ruins and smoke, cries and wails — all of this came to the Ukrainian land. This tragedy left an incurable scar on people's lives, but it struck children the hardest.
As of the morning of June 22, 2022, more than 916 children have been affected by the full-scale armed aggression of the russian federation in Ukraine. According to official information from juvenile prosecutors, 324 children have died and over 592 have been injured, reports the Office of the Prosecutor General. The highest number of affected children is in the Donetsk region — 307, Kharkiv — 175, Kyiv — 116, Chernihiv — 68, Luhansk — 54, Kherson — 52, Mykolaiv — 48, Zaporizhzhia — 30, Sumy — 17.
Blood, mutilation, deaths, and unspeakable pain – instead of military targets, the enemy has chosen Ukrainian children. The spring and summer stolen by the invaders became the last for over three hundred schoolchildren. Nearly 600 will either remain disabled for life or live with severe psychological trauma.
Children in orphanages in the combat zones, orcibly taken to russia or to territories occupied by russia, or evacuated to other regions of Ukraine, are still at risk The war in Ukraine has raised urgent questions about family or community care. International assistance is needed to ensure that children from war-affected institutions, particularly those with disabilities, do not end up in orphanages again.
“Children in Ukraine are experiencing terror,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Millions of children go to sleep cold and frightened, waking up hoping for an end to this brutal war. Children have been killed and injured, many have lost parents, siblings, their homes, schools, and beloved playgrounds. No child should suffer like this.”
The economic crisis, which has caused a significant loss of income for countless families, as well as the energy crisis caused by the war, has a devastating impact on the well-being of children and families. A recent UNICEF survey showed that 80% of respondents noted a worsening of their economic situation, while UNICEF's analysis revealed that the percentage of children living in poverty has nearly doubled (from 43% to 82%). The situation is particularly dire for 5.9 million displaced persons in Ukraine.
The war is also having a devastating impact on the mental health and well-being of children. It is estimated that 1.5 million children are at risk of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health problems with potentially long-term consequences.
Children and families' access to essential services has catastrophically deteriorated. It is reported that over 800 healthcare facilities in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed by shelling and airstrikes. As a result of these attacks, patients, including children, have been killed or seriously injured, and access to medical care is severely restricted. How many deaths and tragedies were caused by the recent russian missile strike on Kyiv's “Ohmatdyt” hospital. Thousands of children fleeing conflict across the country are not receiving vaccines to protect against polio, measles, diphtheria, and other life-threatening diseases.
Since February 24, 2022, UNICEF, with the support of the international community, has provided educational supplies to 1.8 million children, enrolled over 2.5 million children in formal and informal education, and provided psychological and psychosocial support to 4.6 million children and their caregivers. 725,000 women and children received services to address gender-based violence, 5.6 million people gained access to safe water, and 5.4 million people received medical services. UNICEF also provided multi-purpose cash assistance to 277,000 households in Ukraine and refugee-hosting countries.
Speaking of refugees, it should be noted that of the 7 million people who have crossed the country's borders, the majority are women with children, whose fate and future remain uncertain.
Additionally, the occupiers are taking Ukrainian children to russia, erasing their Ukrainian identity, granting them russian citizenship, and encouraging russians to adopt them. These are international crimes: deportation and genocide. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the number of children illegally taken from temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to russia could be much higher than 19,000, as at least 200,000 Ukrainian children were in the occupied regions. For these crimes, the International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for putin and his accomplice, Lvova-Belova.
UNICEF, together with other international organizations, is doing everything possible to help Ukrainian children. Since February 24, 2022, UNICEF has provided educational supplies to 1.8 million children, enrolled over 2.5 million children in formal and informal education, and provided psychological support to 4.6 million children and their caregivers. However, this is not enough, as the war continues to relentlessly destroy children's lives.
“Children of war” — this definition, as it did after World War II, will follow millions of Ukrainian children for the rest of their lives. Only the aggressor has changed — in place of fascist Hitler stands rashist putin. The crime that russian fascism commits against the population of Ukraine, its children, is terror and genocide. It’s unclear why the international community, the UN, has not yet recognized russia as a terrorist state. The cynicism on this issue is overwhelming. They are probably waiting for the Moskals to reach them. We, Ukrainians, need to draw conclusions from this — no one will help us as much as we can help ourselves. Every country has its own interests, and they primarily care about their own welfare. In politics, there are no eternal friends, only eternal self-interests.
The crimes of the russian army continue to destroy the childhood of Ukrainian children. The latest tragedy occurred in Lviv, where seven people, including a seven-year-old child, died as a result of a missile strike. With tears in their eyes, all of Ukraine bid farewell to a family from Lviv — a mother and her three children who died under the rubble of a home destroyed by a russian missile. Destroyed residential buildings, schools, and hospitals — this is the constant reality of war. Unfortunately, such tragedies are happening all over the country. Attacks on civilians, including children, have become daily crimes by the russian army.
Despite all these trials, Ukraine continues to fight for its future and the future of its children. Now more than ever, it is important to plan for development, to think about what will remain after us, and, most importantly, about our children. Every lost child's life is a future destroyed not only for the state but for the entire world. And today, more than ever before, it is crucial to remember every child's life that was broken by this brutal war.
Author: Myroslav Hrekh