
Clare Foges 6pm - 9pm
20 February 2025, 08:54
Three years since the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Ukraine is now one of the countries most contaminated by explosive ordnance in the world.
The war in Ukraine is one of the most cynical illustrations of the ravages of indiscriminate weapons use on civilian populations. These weapons make no distinction between military personnel and civilians.
They are injuring and killing civilians, reducing access to essential services such as health and livelihoods and impacting people’s mental health, their social interactions, and their education.
Every day, innocent people are being killed and injured as the violence continues to rise in Ukraine.
These are men, women, children and older people who were caught up in the fighting while at home or on their way home from work.
Civilians, particularly children, are the most impacted by this conflict. Our teams on the ground are seeing many serious physical injuries, such as traumatic amputations and burns due to explosive ordnance. We are doing everything we can to provide vital support to people affected by the violence via our rehabilitation and mental health care.
Nowhere in Ukraine is safe. Landmines, submunitions and explosive remnants of war are being found in fields, roads, residential areas, underground, and even disguised as ordinary objects and hidden in plain sight.
Artillery bombardment and aerial attacks can occur at any time, and after initially fleeing their homes for safety, more and more people are now going back to areas contaminated by explosive ordnance. Entire generations will face the consequences of this contamination.
One of our teams’ missions is to teach children and adults how to stay safe from bombardments and unexploded ordnance. Explosive ordnance risk education sessions are organised in affected communities, some in schools and sometimes underground.
In Kharkiv, for example, which is the region that has the highest number of incidents with explosive weapons and where danger is constant with bombs falling nearby, children now have to go to school in the metro.
In these classrooms, our teams teach life-saving lessons to children about how to recognise the dangers around them, such as landmines, unexploded bombs, and even toys rigged with explosives.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, we’ve been able to support more than 200,000 people impacted by the conflict, focusing our actions on the most vulnerable, including people with disabilities, older people and children.
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Duncan Ball is Country Director for Humanity & Inclusion in Ukraine.
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