La guerra del Donbass, in Ucraina orientale, è in atto dal 2014 ma nessuno sembra ricordarlo. Eppure questa guerra civile, lo dicono i dati dell’ONU, ha già fatto più di 10.000 morti. In Ucraina combattono i separatisti, quelli delle due repubbliche che si sono dichiarate indipendenti con un referendum nel 2014 e vogliono l’annessione alla Russia (la Repubblica Popolare di Doneck e la Repubblica Popolare di Lugansk), combattono gli ucraini che non vogliono essere annessi, combattono i russi nonostante le continue smentite di Mosca, e combattono i mercenari italiani al fianco delle milizie filorusse.
In Ucraina la situazione è difficile: secondo l’UNICEF, durante i primi quattro mesi del 2019 gli studenti hanno visto un incremento degli attacchi quattro volte superiore rispetto allo stesso periodo del 2018, rimanendo così traumatizzati ed esposti al rischio di venire feriti o uccisi.
Tra gennaio e aprile 2019, ci sono stati 12 attacchi contro le scuole, rispetto ai 3 episodi durante lo stesso periodo dell’anno precedente. Questo incremento allarmante ricorda le violenze subite dagli studenti e gli insegnanti nel 2017, anno in cui ci sono stati più di 40 attacchi contro le strutture scolastiche.
“Gli studenti porteranno a lungo le cicatrici mentali e fisiche del conflitto in Ucraina Orientale”, ha dichiarato Henrietta Fore, Direttore generale UNICEF. “La vita quotidiana a scuola è interrotta da colpi di arma da fuoco e bombe, costringendo i bambini a ripararsi nei sotterranei delle scuole e nei rifugi antiaerei. In molti casi, i bambini sono troppo terrorizzati per imparare.”
Dall’inizio del conflitto nel 2014, più di 750 strutture scolastiche da entrambe le parti della linea di contatto sono state danneggiate o distrutte a causa delle ostilità. La vicinanza di siti militari, basi, depositi e checkpoint per la sicurezza espongono gli studenti da entrambe le parti della linea a un grave pericolo. Inoltre, mine ed esplosivi rimasti dalla guerra minacciano la sicurezza dei bambini e causano loro traumi e stress emotivo. “Aule distrutte circondate da sacchetti di sabbia per proteggere i bambini da proiettili vaganti non sono luoghi in cui un bambino può imparare. Tutte le parti in conflitto devono proteggere le scuole e tenere i bambini al sicuro”, ha concluso Fore.
An armed police officer patrols outside a classroom of first graders where the windows have been covered with sandbags, at a school in Mariinka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Wednesday 22 November 2017. The school is guarded by an armed police officer and ever since one of the children was shot in the arm while playing in the playground, students are no longer permitted to play outside. During breaks, children play soccer and ping pong in the hallways. “They can’t break the windows because they’re covered by sandbags” says Lera, a student at the school. “Once they broke a light bulb, and the cleaning lady was unhappy,” she adds. Mariinka is one of a number of towns situated directly on the contact line which divides government and non-government controlled areas in eastern Ukraine and where fighting is most intense between the Ukrainian Army and non-government forces. In some areas, just 200 meters separate the line, and shelling and gunfire are reported on an almost daily basis by monitors for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Civilians live throughout this active combat zone. As of December 2017, the situation in eastern Ukraine remains volatile, and violence continues despite the latest ceasefire agreements committed on 19 July 2017. The lives of children and their families, especially those living along the contact line continue to be at risk. According to a December 2017 report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, millions of people are continuing to suffer unnecessarily due to the entrenched political impasse and the ongoing armed conflict. Despite many attempts at a ceasefire, hostilities continue with almost daily shelling, frequent localized clashes, and rapidly escalating mine and unexploded ordinance contamination. The conflict has taken a severe toll on the education system, affecting students, teachers, administration and education facilities, hundreds of which have sustain
Aleksey Agapin, 14, is from Vozdvyzhenka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Tuesday 28 November 2017. Aleksey lost a thumb and two fingers when a grenade plug he found exploded in his hand. “It was in summer, I was going to the pond with my friends to swim there. As we were walking there was a convoy of military passing and something fell off one of the cars. I wasn’t sure what that thing was, it looked like it could be a pen.” Aleksey says. “I picked it up and touched it when it exploded in my hands. My first feeling was shock and pain. I looked down and saw the fingers were hanging from my hand.” “My whole life has changed,” continues Aleksey, “I can’t do everything I could do before without my fingers, but I’m getting used to it. It’s still hard to do some things. I can’t chop the wood, it’s hard to tie the fishing line, and it’s hard to set the traps to catch animals. Sometimes I’m getting upset up until the moment when I break into tears.” “There’s a game we play at school,” Aleksey says quietly “you have to do everything with your right hand in it, and I just couldn’t, so I felt like starting to cry. I’m learning how to write with my left hand, it’s not very good yet, but I’m trying.” For the past two years at Aleksey’s home, there has been no water, electricity or gas. The family heat their home using firewood they chop outside, sometimes in temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius. Military positions at the end of the street regularly exchange small-arms and anti-aircraft fire with non-government forces just across the contact line, which divides government and non-government controlled areas, and the deep thuds of outgoing and incoming shells are heard throughout the day. In addition to these challenges, both Aleksey’s parents are unemployed, and alcoholics. His father worked in a coal mine until a ceiling collapsed on him in 1996, breaking his back. With almost no money for food, the children fish in ponds and use traps
Oksana Deynega, the director of school number 4, holds a shell fragment and bullets recently collected from the school grounds in Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Monday 27 November 2017. Nearby fighting took place throughout the school day, with shells landing hundreds of meters from the school. A military position in a neighbouring building fired mortars at non-government forces, risking retaliatory fire. Because of the fighting and lack of heating, the local school operates three times a week, with classes cut short to 20 minutes each. The shelling has damaged infrastructure in the city, and most students homes are without gas or clean water. The electricity grid was damaged too, but was repaired because it is the last means of heat for residents during the winter months. Avdiivka, a city of about 20,000 people, sits right on the contact line which divides government and non-government controlled areas in eastern Ukraine and where fighting is most intense. There is daily shelling, and at some points opposing sides face off at just 300 meters, resulting in regular small-arms skirmishes. As of December 2017, the situation in eastern Ukraine remains volatile, and violence continues despite the latest ceasefire agreements committed on 19 July 2017. The lives of children and their families, especially those living along the contact line continue to be at risk. According to a December 2017 report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, millions of people are continuing to suffer unnecessarily due to the entrenched political impasse and the ongoing armed conflict. Despite many attempts at a ceasefire, hostilities continue with almost daily shelling, frequent localized clashes, and rapidly escalating mine and unexploded ordinance contamination. Given the restrictions on access, just under a million crossings of the contact line occur each month, with people forced to wait for many hours in long lines with minimal services. Fou
A military calendar, reading “We will win with God” at the home of Sasha Sechevoi, 12, in Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Sunday 26 November 2017. Sasha’s father was unknown at birth and his mother later abandoned him, leaving him in the custody of his extended relative, Valentina. “There hasn’t been any shelling last week. I feel like I want to live again,” Valentina says. “We can still hear gunfire each day, and regularly artillery fire. Sasha wouldn’t mind the sounds. He would just keep riding his bicycle.” Even as neighbours were wounded and killed in fighting, Sasha continued to play outside. In August, 2016, Sasha was riding his bicycle when a bullet shattered his ankle. His dream of becoming a professional football player may be jeopardized, worries Valentina. “Before he got hit, Sasha was like a proper child. Now he seems like a grown up” Valentina says, “He’s more aware, more cautious. And he can tell from the sounds what type of weapon is working; whether it’s automatic rifle fire or artillery.” Because of the fighting and no heating, the local school operates three times a week, with classes cut short to 20 minute sessions. Sasha walks to school through neighbouring yards to avoid the road before boarding the bus. At school, there used to be 20 students in his class, but that number has dwindled to ten as families fled in search of safety. The shelling has damaged infrastructure in the city, and Sasha’s home is without gas or clean water. The electricity grid was damaged too, but was repaired because it is the last means of heat for residents during the winter months. In the afternoon, shelling echos through the city. “It’s normal now,” Valentina says, “but you never get used to the fact that you cannot know whether you’ll wake up again the next morning.” As of December 2017, the situation in eastern Ukraine remains volatile, and violence continues despite the latest ceasefire agreements committed on 1
Lera Nagormay, 10, sits for a photograph in a classroom at school in Marinka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Wednesday 22 November 2017. When conflict broke out in 2013, Marinka was heavily contested. “One time, when I walked to school” Lera says, “when I arrived all the kids were already in the shelter. Shelling had started while I was on my way, and I had to rush in there. The school still has weekly drills, corralling students into the bunker beneath the building. In a long cold room, seats line one wall for the smaller children. “Sometimes we bring our toys down here so we don’t get bored waiting,” Lera says. Today, a police officer wearing camouflage and armed with a rifle stands guard in the lobby of the school. After one child was shot in the arm in the playground, children are not permitted to play outside. Field trips are out of the question due to the risk posed by mines and unexploded ordnance. “We have to stay inside the school all the time, and are not allowed to play outside during the breaks. The boys play football in the school’s corridors” Lera says, “they can’t break the windows because of the sandbags.” As of December 2017, the situation in eastern Ukraine remains volatile, and violence continues despite the latest ceasefire agreements committed on 19 July 2017. The lives of children and their families, especially those living along the contact line continue to be at risk. According to a December 2017 report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, millions of people are continuing to suffer unnecessarily due to the entrenched political impasse and the ongoing armed conflict. Despite many attempts at a ceasefire, hostilities continue with almost daily shelling, frequent localized clashes, and rapidly escalating mine and unexploded ordinance contamination. The conflict has taken a severe toll on the education system, affecting students, teachers, administration and education facilities, hundreds of which hav
Sasha Sechevoi, 12, pulls down his sock to show a bullet wound, at home in the town of Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Sunday 26 November 2017. Sasha’s father was unknown at birth and his mother later abandoned him, leaving him in the custody of his extended relative, Valentina. “There hasn’t been any shelling last week. I feel like I want to live again,” Valentina says. “We can still hear gunfire each day, and regularly artillery fire. Sasha wouldn’t mind the sounds. He would just keep riding his bicycle.” Even as neighbours were wounded and killed in fighting, Sasha continued to play outside. In August, 2016, Sasha was riding his bicycle when a bullet shattered his ankle. His dream of becoming a professional football player may be jeopardized, worries Valentina. “Before he got hit, Sasha was like a proper child. Now he seems like a grown up” Valentina says, “He’s more aware, more cautious. And he can tell from the sounds what type of weapon is working; whether it’s automatic rifle fire or artillery.” Because of the fighting and no heating, the local school operates three times a week, with classes cut short to 20 minute sessions. Sasha walks to school through neighbouring yards to avoid the road before boarding the bus. At school, there used to be 20 students in his class, but that number has dwindled to ten as families fled in search of safety. The shelling has damaged infrastructure in the city, and Sasha’s home is without gas or clean water. The electricity grid was damaged too, but was repaired because it is the last means of heat for residents during the winter months. In the afternoon, shelling echos through the city. “It’s normal now,” Valentina says, “but you never get used to the fact that you cannot know whether you’ll wake up again the next morning.” As of December 2017, the situation in eastern Ukraine remains volatile, and violence continues despite the latest ceasefire agreements committed on 19 J
Principle Elena Mihatskaya, 51, at the now abandoned secondary school number 2, in the town of Krasnohorivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Monday 20 November 2017. The school, which had been in constant operation since it was rebuilt after being bombed in World War II, was shut down in May 2017, after a shell struck the building, causing massive damage. “To me it feels like history is repeating itself,” said principle Elena Mihatskaya, 51, who attended the school as a girl and went on to become a teacher, the deputy director, and finally, the principle. “The school had become almost home to me,” she said. Over one hundred students – many families have fled the fighting – were forced to attend half-days of school at the nearby secondary school number 5. The children were traumatized by the shelling, and parents and teachers struggled to meet their emotional needs. Another school on the outskirts of Krasnohorivka was badly shelled in 2014. As of December 2017, the situation in eastern Ukraine remains volatile, and violence continues despite the latest ceasefire agreements committed on 19 July 2017. The lives of children and their families, especially those living along the contact line continue to be at risk. According to a December 2017 report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, millions of people are continuing to suffer unnecessarily due to the entrenched political impasse and the ongoing armed conflict. Despite many attempts at a ceasefire, hostilities continue with almost daily shelling, frequent localized clashes, and rapidly escalating mine and unexploded ordinance contamination. The conflict has taken a severe toll on the education system, affecting students, teachers, administration and education facilities, hundreds of which have sustained damage. Education facilities are often shelled, particularly along the contact line, where more than 220,000 children, youth and educators are in immediate need of saf
L’UNICEF chiede una fine immediata dei combattimenti e la protezione dei bambini in ogni momento. L’UNICEF ricorda ai governi, compresa l’Ucraina, di aderire alla Dichiarazione delle Scuole Sicure, un impegno politico intergovernativo per intraprendere azioni concrete per proteggere bambini, insegnanti e strutture scolastiche da attacchi deliberati e indiscriminati durante i conflitti armati. La settimana prossima, il governo della Spagna ospiterà la terza Conferenza Internazionale sulle Scuole Sicure, un’opportunità per gli Stati di sottolineare i progressi fatti nell’implementare la dichiarazione.
L’UNICEF sta lavorando con i suoi partner in Ucraina Orientale per fornire la consulenza e il supporto psicosociale tanto necessari e le informazioni sui rischi di mine per centinaia di migliaia di bambini, giovani e persone che se ne prendono cura, colpiti dal conflitto.
