Ukrainian Children Have Spent Over 5,000 Hours in Bomb Shelters, Which Is Equivalent to Seven Months of Childhood

Children living in Ukraine’s frontlines have endured between 3,000 and 5,000 hours, equivalent to 4-7 months, seeking shelter in basements or metro stations due to incessant air raid sirens over the past two years.

Since the beginning of full-scale war in February 2022, shelling has been relentless across the country, with nearly 3,500 air raid alerts in Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions, and almost 6,200 in Donetsk region. This has profoundly affected children’s mental well-being and their educational progress, reports UNICEF.

The situation worsens during winter, with many children forced into cold, damp basements as shelling has left families without heating, water, and electricity.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said: “The war in Ukraine has shattered childhoods and wreaked havoc on children’s mental health and ability to learn. Children have experienced two years of violence, isolation, separation from families, loss of loved ones, displacement and disrupted schooling and healthcare. They need this nightmare to end.”

“The continued shelling leaves little opportunity for Ukraine’s children to recover from the distress and trauma associated with attacks. Every siren and explosion bring further anxiety. Education is a pillar of hope, opportunity and stability in children’s lives, but it continues to be disrupted or out of reach for millions of Ukraine’s children,” Russel added.

Many Ukrainian children are coping with the psychological effects of war. Surveys indicate half of children aged 13-15 suffer from sleep disturbances, while one in five grapples with intrusive thoughts and memories, typical of post-traumatic stress disorder. Three-quarters of young people surveyed recently, aged 14-34, expressed a need for emotional or psychological support.

Nationwide, 40% of children struggle to access education due to war, with half of school-aged children in frontline areas completely cut off from schooling. Recent data highlights significant setbacks in learning compared to 2018, with children effectively losing two years of reading and one year of mathematics progress by 2022.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, at least 1,993 children in Ukraine have been killed or injured, averaging two child casualties daily, and nearly 20,000 have been illegally deported to Russia or Russian occupied territories, based on verified UN figures. However, the actual number is believed to be significantly higher.