UNICEF and its partners have condemned the indiscriminate shelling of schools in eastern Ukraine and called for all sides in the renewed conflict there to immediately recommit to the ceasefire signed in mid-2015.
Noting that thousands of children have been forced out of school due to fighting last week, Giovanni Barberis, UNICEF‘s representative in Ukraine, said the shelling of schools – “the one place where children find safety and normalcy during conflict” – “has to stop”.
“Children in eastern Ukraine have suffered enough and we must ensure that they have safe spaces to seek solace and support,” he said in a statement.
UNICEF says humanitarian organisations have reported that at least five schools and two kindergartens have been damaged by shelling and 11 other schools have had to close. More than 2,600 children from 13 schools in government controlled areas in eastern Ukraine have been affected by the fighting along with hundreds more students from schools in non-government controlled areas.
Michele Cecere, Save the Children’s representative in Ukraine, said the shelling of schools has become “commonplace” in the conflict, noting that there were reports of large numbers of unexploded ordnance in the streets, something which puts children at “enormous risk” when going to school.
More than 600,000 children have already had their schooling affected in eastern Ukraine and more than 740 schools – one in five – has been damaged or destroyed.
