Ukraine crisis: Children having classes on bombs as humanitarian 'catastrophe' worsens

At least 63 children are among the 5,800 people killed so far in the conflict

Ukraine is a country being ripped apart, where a million people have fled their homes and children sheltering from shelling in cellars are being taught what different kinds of bombs sound like.

That is the dire warning from Paul Anticoni, the chief executive of World Jewish Relief, who has visited the war-torn country as part of the international aid effort.

“Even if we had a ceasefire today and there was not a shot fired, we would have a mammoth job ahead starting the recovery,” he said. “Ukraine’s problems have just started.”

A supposed peace deal made almost two weeks ago has made little impact on fighting between separatists in government troops in eastern Ukraine, where thousands of civilians are believed to still be trapped in besieged towns.

Nearly 5,800 people, including 63 children, have been killed and 14,595 wounded since the conflict started in April last year and observers have recorded the “indiscriminate” shelling of residential areas.

Illegal weapons such as cluster bombs have been used by both sides, Amnesty International said in a report, and the government and rebels are allegedly breaking international law by failing to protect civilians.

Mr Anticoni said the conflict is having a ripple effect that is traumatising the entire nation.

“This conflict is ripping the country apart in so many ways – not just being pro Kiev or pro Moscow because it’s way more complex than that,” he added.

“There’s a sense of hopelessness and doom and gloom that does great psychological damage.

Weary Ukrainian servicemen abandon Debaltseve after losing battles with rebels last week (Reuters)

“This was a country that was so far away from conflict a year ago and the concept that Ukrainians would be fighting among themselves was just so alien. Now it’s a country at war.”

As well as the fear of the conflict spreading, families in conflict-free parts of Ukraine face having sons as young as 18 conscripted into the national army.

A woman looks out from her damaged house in the city of Slovyansk

“Young kids are learning about how to evacuate and how to recognise different weapons and unexploded bombs,” Mr Anticoni said.

“Even in areas in the far West there’s a sense that Putin’s tanks could come rolling over the hill at any minute. That sense of not knowing is terrifying.”

More than 1 million Ukrainians have fled their homes, including at least 130,000 children, according to UN figures.

Children look through a car's back windscreen with sign reading 'children', as they drive in Donetsk region (EPA)

Giovanna Barberis, Unicef’s representative for the country, said children have been suffering “enormous levels of stress” in the conflict, especially those under bombardment.

“The most vulnerable are those who are forced to seek refuge in unsanitary, crowded and freezing cellars and bomb shelters, children living on the streets, and those who come from poor families or whose homes have been severely damaged,” she added.

Internally displaced civilians have mostly fled to the west of conflict zones around Donetsk and Luhansk but some families have reportedly chosen to go into rebel-held areas as they consider them safer than so-called “buffer zones”.

Children sit next to the humanitarian aid in the local Palace of Culture which is used as a bomb shelter in Mironovka village, near Debaltseve, on 17 February 2015. (EPA)

Communities initially welcomed the refugees because they thought the conflict was “only going to last a week or two”, Mr Anticoni said but tensions are rising as resentment brews over competition for jobs and resources.

Just over a third of displaced families have registered for state financial aid, which many are refused because the government does not recognise the area they fled as dangerous enough to qualify.

Ukraine’s economy was already struggling, causing high levels of unemployment and poverty, when huge anti-government protests started in 2013 that eventually ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Anti-government protesters burn as they stand behind burning barricades during clashes with police in Kiev in February 2014

Now it is at rock bottom and getting worse, with huge inflation, falling employment, food shortages, ATMs not working in rebel areas and shops running out of stock. Water supply problems and electricity black-outs have also been reported in the east.

World Jewish Relief is one of numerous aid organisations working to alleviate the crisis, running community centres and outreach programmes to help the elderly, unemployed, disabled and other vulnerable people.

On 10 February, two rockets hit a centre where its staff were stationed in Kramatorsk, Donetsk, fortunately failing to explode when they hit the roof and courtyard. No one was injured.

Russia-backed rebels at the entrance in Debaltseve (AP)

Mr Anticoni does not believe that the international community has done enough to recognise the scale of Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis or push parties in negotiations to take their responsibilities to civilians seriously.

“Lives are being lost on the borders of the EU and it terrifies me,” he added. “The international community must take note of the immensity of this crisis, which will only get worse.”