This winter is predicted to be the toughest for children and their families in Ukraine since full-scale war broke out almost three years ago, due to a combination of weather conditions, damage to infrastructure, power outages and lack of access to essential services such as healthcare.
– Many will freeze in their homes during the long power outages, and newborn babies and children will be particularly vulnerable because they can freeze very quickly and develop hypothermia because their bodies are smaller and cannot regulate their body temperature as easily as adults, says Sonia Khush, country director for Save the Children in Ukraine, to Dagsavisen.
Khush recalls that rising electricity prices and difficult financial conditions mean that many families are also forced to choose between paying the electricity bill and meeting other important needs, such as food and healthcare.
– Children and families in Ukraine are being pushed to the brink, she says.
Sunday’s attack
On Sunday morning, Ukraine was hit by Russian airstrikes on several fronts – many of them targeting energy facilities and critical infrastructure across the country. NTB was able to report that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj states that about 120 rockets and 90 drones were fired, and that they hit all the country’s counties.
According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha, it is one of the biggest Russian attacks against the country so far in the war.
– Russia has launched one of the largest airstrikes: Drones and rockets against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians and critical infrastructure. This is war criminal Putin’s true answer to all those who have called and visited him lately. We need peace through strength, not concessions, the foreign minister signs X/Twitter.
Sonia Khush, who herself lives in Kyiv, does not believe that Sunday’s attack was a coincidence.
– No, it was so targeted at hitting energy plants that we can only assume that was their intention considering that winter is just around the corner, she says.
– How does it look where you are today?
– There are already power cuts, so several of my colleagues in other cities have reported that the power has gone out. Ahead of this winter, we have tried to be very well prepared, but we knew that it was a bit unpredictable, and if the attacks continue, then it is not certain that all the preparations will be enough. So we were very worried last night when the attacks started. But people are preparing as best they can. Many families living along the front line in the east and south have damage to their homes due to the fighting, so aid organizations such as Redd Barna and others are trying to work with the families to repair blown windows and seal insulation in the homes as best we can.
According to Sonia Khush, it is still possible for people to obtain the materials they need to repair damage to their houses.
– The markets and shops here are very robust and function well under the conditions, so that materials are generally available in the country. What the families lack is the money and resources to buy the materials, and that’s where we can help. But one thing is to repair the house, another is to keep it warm. Families hoard coal, which is a fairly common way of heating their houses in winter in rural Ukraine. And I have seen families gathering piles of firewood. In the cities, people buy portable heaters that they can use inside the house. In addition, everyone buys more winter clothing, warm jackets and woolen blankets to the extent that they can get hold of it. Because no one knows how bad it will be in a few months, says Sonia Khush.
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Tough winter
Last week, the Ukrainian government confirmed the first blackout of the winter, throwing thousands of families into darkness and cold. Children living in homes damaged by the war in Ukraine are at risk of freezing temperatures and health complications, including hypothermia, when the first cold snap of the winter season hits the country this week, bringing freezing conditions with it.
This winter is predicted to be one of the toughest yet, especially for children and newborns.
– Children who live on the front line of the war and who cannot find adequate shelter will be the most vulnerable this winter, says Sonia Khush.
– Not only is it the cold, but if the power goes out, it means that some facilities don’t have generators, so they won’t be able to provide good medical care, especially to those living along the front lines.
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Critical to civilians
Increasing attacks on civilians have damaged or destroyed at least two million homes in Ukraine since February 2022, which, according to Save the Children, has affected an estimated 774,000 children. Some children and their families still live in broken homes – with everything from broken windows and doors to gaping holes in walls and ceilings – because they can’t afford to fix them or don’t have the money to move.
It is expected that families could be without power for up to 20 hours a day this winter if the strikes against the energy infrastructure continue.
– Many children will be left without heating and hot water when the temperature drops far below zero, in some areas down to -20 degrees Celsius. Children living in broken homes without electricity are extremely vulnerable, and if they are exposed to extreme winter conditions, they risk health damage such as hypothermia and frostbite, says Sonia Khush.
Danger to life
– This winter will cause enormous suffering for millions of children and adults across the country. Many will freeze in their homes during the long power outages, and newborn babies and children will be particularly vulnerable because they can freeze very quickly and develop hypothermia because their bodies are smaller and cannot regulate their body temperature as easily as adults, says Sonia Khush.
This winter will cause enormous suffering for millions of children and adults across the country.
— Sonia Khush, Save the Children
– The rising electricity prices and the difficult economic conditions also mean that many families are forced to choose between paying the electricity bill and meeting other important needs, such as food and healthcare. Children and families in Ukraine are being pushed to the brink, she says.
Need more support
Save the Children has been working in Ukraine since 2014. Since 24 February 2022, the children’s rights organization has increased its activities dramatically, and now has a team of 350 employees. But even though aid organizations are working hard to provide life-saving aid to families – including winter packs, home repairs and cash – it’s not enough, and according to Khush and Save the Children there are still big gaps.
– The needs are simply too great, and we often do not get access to the most vulnerable local communities near the front line. This winter, we urgently need more funding from the international community and unrestricted humanitarian access to save children’s lives. We also ask all parties to the conflict to ensure that civilian objects, particularly homes, schools and hospitals, are protected from attack, says Khush.
Press on the vest
On Sunday morning, explosions could be heard in Kyiv and near Slavyansk in Donetsk. Explosions have also been reported in Kropyvnytskyi, Cherkasy, Odesa and Zaporizhzhya, reported Kyiv Independent previous Sunday.
According to NTB, the Swedish military expert Joakim Paasikivi believes that by attacking critical infrastructure, Russia may have a desire to create a greater flow of refugees towards Western countries in order to push for a negotiated solution that serves Russia.
– It is not an escalation at all, but a still high level where Russia has tried, and unfortunately succeeded quite well, in knocking out much of the Ukrainian energy supply, he says.
Several thermal power plants were heavily damaged in the attack, and Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK announced on Sunday morning that they must cut power for urgent reasons both in the Kyiv region and two areas in the east of the country, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk.
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