Young people in Ukraine have noticed that their lives are turned upside down because of the war.
The children were killed. The children were injured. The children lost their loved ones and caregivers. They were forced into hiding. Let them flee their homes. They have noticed that their neighborhoods are destroyed.
Those who fled had to leave the circle of family and friends. They saw things that no child ever deserves to see.
Amid the terror and uncertainty, however, there were also small moments of joy. Families reunited after weeks of separation. Friendship and friendly hand in the places. The lingering hope that one day soon, the war will end.
Here are some of their stories.
Alina and Artem, any of the 9, have spent the last 3 months living in a dark and damp underground parking lot in Kharkiv with their parents and a few other families, protected from airstrikes and shelling. In dozens of underground shelters across the city, UNICEF-supported volunteers have set up spaces where teachers, psychologists and sports instructors can play and engage young people like Alina and Artem. Educational videos posted through the online kindergarten “NUMO” have thousands of views. An online education platform for academics in grades five to eleven, developed through the Ministry of Education and Science with the help of UNICEF during the COVID-19 pandemic, is managing to attract more than 80,000 internally displaced academics in Ukraine.
Oleksandra, 16, from Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine, kisses her sister Katya, 5, at their transitional home in Warsaw, Poland. he reports at the beginning of the war while still in Ukraine: he crossed the Polish border with his sister and his mother and grandmother. His father is still in Ukraine. ” They say space is not the place, but the people, but space is the position where you feel most comfortable,” says Oleksandra. “It’s very sad to be here and have the center there. “
Vitya, 11, is from Volnovakha in eastern Ukraine and was reading guitar when the war broke out. He had to give up his beloved tool when the circle of relatives fled the fighting. While staying in a transitional shelter at a church in the west of the town of Vinnytsia, a volunteer organization raised money for a replacement, so Vitya is remaking music. “My mother loves it when someone plays for her,” Vitya says. Vitya and her mother now live in Poland. ” My biggest dream is to move home and make everything go back to the way it used to be: music lessons, boxing, biking with friends and helping my parents. “
A month apart, Olena, 43, discovers her son, Mikhailo, 9, outdoors at their broken house in Novoselivka, outdoors in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on April 15, 2022. Their small town has been the scene of intense fighting and the domain is almost completely razed. As the confrontation approached her home, Olena sent Mikhailo to live with her neighbors until it was possible to pass safely again. Mikhailo says he was afraid when he had to leave his mother and is satisfied that he can be at home, “even if I’m not satisfied to stop by the house and see my space like that. “
Chernihiv, located near the border with Belarus, besieged after the escalation of the war on February 24, leaving the city without running water, food, electricity or media. Aerial bombardments and bombs destroyed schools, hospitals, homes and bridges. citizens fled, others stayed, living in makeshift bomb shelters for weeks. In the first days of April, the troops withdrew, but citizens fear that they will return at any time.
Karina, 17, left her home in a village near Mykolaiv, Ukraine, and is now in Husi, Romania. She is a freshman at the University of Customs and Finance in the city of Dnipro, but while studies continue online, she cannot participate because she does not have a computer or internet access. “When there was a clash in Donetsk and Luhansk, I understood what was going on there, but I didn’t associate myself with it. But when it happened to me, I understood.
Local government and local organisations in Husi are supporting refugees with loose accommodation, food and shipping to long-distance destinations. In collaboration with the government and other partners, UNICEF provides social assistance, mental counselling, legal advice and registration at Blue Dot centres. established jointly with UNHCR. ” You enjoy every moment of life and rejoice in the fact that you already have it,” karina says.
Davyd, 7, from Bucha, Ukraine, plays soccer on the lawn of his aunt’s London space with the help of a new pair of crampons. “I’ve never had one before!” he says. When the war began, Davyd and his circle of relatives hid in his basement for a week. When the lights and fuel disappeared from their street and they lost their internet connection, the circle of relatives had to evacuate. They borrowed fuel for their car from a neighbor. “We passed cars that were burned and shot,” Davyd recalls.
In Kyiv, the circle of relatives found a safe haven in a church. Eventually, Davyd and his mother, Yevgenia, went to Poland and then to London, where Davyd attends school and learns English. He also learned to play the piano. Yevgenia says she’s starting to feel more like herself, but dealing with war and its aftermath “will take a lifetime. “She and her son arrived in their sister’s space in April.
Vika, 8, from Avdiivka, eastern Ukraine, sits in the kitchen with her mother, Hanna, and younger sister at a relative’s house where they are temporarily staying in Cherkasy Oblast. When the fighting in their domain intensified earlier this year, for them, the continuation of a confrontation they have long lived in the eastern region: the circle of relatives took refuge in the basement of their own house. For almost two months, the young people did not see the sun. Then, while waiting for a bus evacuation, there was an artillery attack. “We were very scared,” Hanna recalls. We were literally walking away from the bombing. I forced myself to save my children’s lives and mine again, as I did in 2014. now broken or destroyed.
UNICEF has been supporting affected families in the region from the beginning and continues to work with partners across Ukraine to provide educational opportunities for out-of-school children.
Support UNICEF’s efforts to succeed young people and families in need in Ukraine and refugee-hosting countries. Your contribution can make all the difference.