In Ukraine, children and families caught up in the chaos of war

For a month, Alevtina* and her 12-year-old daughter Yulia* have been sheltering in their basement in Kherson, Ukraine, taking cover from the shelling above. Food and medicine have almost run out. It is impossible to leave and terrifying to stay.

"We constantly hear shooting and explosions here,” says Alevtina. “My daughter has already learned to distinguish what exactly and where they shoot. I'm very scared, I try not to leave the house. But my daughter somehow quickly adapted to new realities.”

The first few moments of the war are forever etched in Alevtina’s memory.

"I woke up around 4 a.m. I had messages from friends and acquaintances. All of them shouted in one voice: "The war has begun, we are being attacked!" I was told how our border guards were killed, how they invaded our border towns."

Panic set in when the first enemy helicopters flew over their house.

"In a panic, I collected children's things, medicines, and remembered the words of an instructor from the Red Cross on how to stop bleeding with scotch tape. I didn't know what to do – should I go to work now or run away from the city? My daughter spent the night with her grandmother in another district of Kherson. So we needed to get to them.”

Alevtina's husband stood in line for fuel for about two hours, while she called her relatives to arrange a meeting place. 

"I heard strange sounds and could not understand where they came from. Something exploded, something was constantly buzzing. I was told that they were shooting at the airport, others wrote that they hit the Antonivsky Bridge. I went outside – the bridge was standing, but cars were rushing along it at breakneck speed.”

When they were finally reunited with their daughter, all Alevtina could do was fix her hat and say that everything would be fine.

"My daughter started crying and saying that she would not go anywhere without our dog and cat. We had to return home. Besides, in a panic, I forgot all our documents there.”

At home, they found that the cat had run away and the dog was desperately trying to break his leash. They put the dog in the car, took their documents and left quickly.

"When we left home, we met a neighbor’s boy, Mykola*,” recalls Alevtina. “He lived with his mother. That day she went to town on business. I wanted to take him with us, but Mykolka flatly refused – he was waiting for his mother. And as soon as we left, our houses were shelled.”

Eventually, neighbors told Alevtina that Mykola's mother had died, but he had survived. He had personally pulled his mother's body out from under the rubble and sat next to her for another day, while volunteers were able to reach him.

Eventually, neighbors told Alevtina that Mykola's mother had died, but he had survived. He had personally pulled his mother's body out from under the rubble and sat next to her for another day, while volunteers were able to reach him. 

“My Yulia and Mykola have been friends almost since birth,” says Alevtina, sadly. “His mother kept horses, Yulia often went to their yard. The children rode horses together in our field behind the house and bathed with them in the Dnipro.”

Now, Alevtina and her family are sheltering with relatives on the other side of town. Mykola lives with his grandparents and writes to Yulia online. 

"At first, Yulia was afraid to call him and write. She asked me: ‘How do I talk to him? What do I say? How do I calm him down?’ But Mykolka wrote himself. And now he calms my girl more than she calms him down. He constantly invents a task for her: to blink an eye on the video 40 times or to solve a mathematical problem. So my girl is really distracted.”

“We have nowhere to go — our house was destroyed, a house in the city where we could hide was also shelled in the first days. People also died there. That's why we have to hide in the basement. " 

Yulia celebrated her twelfth birthday under shelling, hiding in the basement. Alevtina says that she tried to go to the city for food, but store shelves are empty. If there are any products left, they sell at a huge markup.

"My grandmothers are magicians. Even from nothing they manage to prepare for us almost a festive table. Yulia is growing up, she needs a normal diet. As much as we can, we do it. The other day they even made pancakes.”

At first, the family had fresh drinking water. Then, the water supply was cut off and, when it was restored, drinking it made the family ill. Now they have to buy water. But there is a lack of cash and ATMs do not work, Alevtina says.

Leaving is not an option at this point. 

"We know that someone managed to leave. But we also often hear about whole families coming under fire. Many cars have been shot in the fields around Kherson. We are not ready to take such a risk. If we were given guarantees, if they opened the road, that's another matter, we could evacuate".

One month of war in Ukraine has led to the displacement of 4.3 million children – more than half of the country’s estimated 7.5 million child population. 

Of the 3.2 million children estimated to have remained in their homes, nearly half may be at risk of not having enough food. The situation is even worse in cities like Mariupol and Kherson, where children and their families have now gone weeks without running water and sanitation services, a regular supply of food, and medical care. They are sheltering in their homes and underground, waiting for the bombs and violence to stop.

UNICEF and its partners are working hard to reach children in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries with humanitarian assistance. In Ukraine, UNICEF has delivered medical supplies to 49 hospitals in nine regions – including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Lviv – improving access to health care for 400,000 mothers, newborns and children. UNICEF continues to distribute water and hygiene items to vulnerable communities. In addition, UNICEF is increasing the number of mobile child protection teams working inside acute conflict zones from 22 to 50 and has delivered 63 trucks of lifesaving supplies to support the needs of over 2.2 million people. UNICEF has launched emergency cash transfers to the most vulnerable families and established child-friendly spaces in key locations across the country.

*Names have been changed for security reasons.