Ukraine Unicef: "Many children only know life in the shelter"
After almost four years of Russian aggression, seven out of ten children in Ukraine are affected by poverty, according to Unicef. "They lack basic necessities for daily life," said Christian Schneider, Executive Director of Unicef Germany, to the German Press Agency after a visit to the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv. Nevertheless, many people are still willing to stay even in areas close to the front. Of the original seven and a half million children, around five million remain in the Eastern European war zone.
22.11.2025, 07:09
SDA
In view of the constant power cuts, the UN organization is providing schools and kindergartens with generators ahead of the coming winter and is helping to seal and replace windows. "So that these facilities can be warm places for the children in the middle of the onset of winter," said Schneider. In areas close to the front line, the aim is also to equip shelters in educational institutions.
"A life full of fears, nightmares and attacks"
The aim is to give the children some stability and make face-to-face lessons possible. He also met four-year-old girls and boys in a kindergarten. "In their short lifespan, they have never known anything other than a life in a bomb shelter, a life full of fears, nightmares and constant attacks," says Schneider. In the meantime, there are increasingly frequent learning delays due to interruptions to lessons caused by the air raids and power cuts. "We assume that 15-year-olds, for example, are now on average two years behind in their reading skills," the Unicef representative stated.
According to local employees of the children's charity, over 80 percent of young children show signs of emotional stress. "Developmental delays in some cases, which is due to the shocks of war." Every second child has missed out on pre-school completely because there are hardly any safe kindergartens. And the consequences of war are also visible in older children. "Around a third of young people are so overcome by sadness and depression that they find it difficult to go about their daily lives," says Schneider.
Parents are also worn down
The stress of war also wears on mothers and fathers. "Many parents are really worn down by the long duration of the war, especially in the Kharkiv region in the communities close to the front," says Schneider. This is precisely why open kindergartens and schools with shelters are important. It is a relief for mothers to know that their children are in a safe place for at least a few hours a day, said the Unicef Executive Director.
In February 2022, the Russian army invaded Ukraine. The attack caused, among other things, the largest refugee movement in Europe since the Second World War. Unicef is the United Nations Children's Fund.
