Traumatized children in Ukraine need help before it’s too late

For Ukraine’s youngest children, war is all they have ever known. Every three-year-old has lived their entire life in terrifying conflict. One in five children has lost a loved one, and thousands have been killed or injured.

Homes, hospitals and schools continue to be destroyed, leaving millions displaced and struggling to survive. Right now thousands are shivering in winter temperatures as low as -20°C and facing the deadly threat of hypothermia.

The psychological and developmental impact is devastating. Children are forced to run from armed drones and shelter for hours underground as missiles fly over head. They have missed out on education and healthcare at a crucial time when their brains are developing.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, UNICEF has been providing life-saving aid, education, and mental health support. But we urgently need your help if these children are to grow up without permanent mental and physical injuries. Every minute matters.

A rescue worker carries a child after an attack that hit Ukraine’s largest children’s medical centre. Following the attack, UNICEF provided health supplies, solar lamps, drinking water and hygiene kits.

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Katya, 3, has already experienced more upheaval than many do in a lifetime – airstrikes, evacuation, and separation from her father.

In 2024, UNICEF provided: 

• 9.8 million people in Ukraine with humanitarian assistance, including 2.5 million children.

• 1.2 million people with access to health services.

• 760,000 children, adolescents and caregivers with mental health support.

• 480,000 children with education support, including the rehabilitation of 66 kindergartens.

• 240,000 people with cash transfers.

Terror in the dark and cold

Children in Ukraine are living lives of utter terror. They are hiding in dark basements from bombs and being constantly forced from their temporary homes. Many have seen horrific sights no child should witness: explosions, gunfire and worse as they continually flee in search of safety.

At just three years old, Katya has lived her entire life in these awful circumstances. Born in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, she spent her infancy in a freezing basement, cradled in her mother’s arms as bombs rained down. As a baby, she had only breast milk to drink.

“We couldn’t go outside to buy anything because we were being bombed from the air,” her mother Alyona said.

Katya has suffered through airstrikes, evacuations and separation from her father. She now lives with the daily, deafening noise of air raid sirens. She cannot access a normal school, but UNICEF-organised classes provide her with some education amid the chaos.

The stress is taking its toll on her young, developing brain – and on her mother too.

“I cannot allow myself to fall apart because Katya will feel it too,” Alyona said.

The first years of a child’s life are fundamental to the development of their brain. But millions of Ukrainian children like Katya face disrupted development during this critical period. Without immediate support, they could face health and learning challenges for the rest of their lives.

UNICEF is working to provide children with a crucial foundation for a happy, safe upbringing. But it requires planning long into the future. With your ongoing support, children like Katya can grow up safe, secure and free from the trauma of war.

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Monthly support makes the biggest impact

Children in Ukraine face a crisis that won’t end when the bombs stop. Millions are at risk from landmines, the psychological scars of war, and a shattered education system.

Many have spent long periods sheltering underground in fear, while 1.2 million children have missed out on full-time learning. Schools have been destroyed, and displacement has made a proper education nearly impossible.

UNICEF is on the ground, ensuring children can keep learning by repairing school shelters, providing learning materials, and training teachers. Thanks to support from people like you, UNICEF can provide mental health counselling and crucial early childhood programmes. Our explosive ordnance risk education has already reached over 13 million people.

But the effects of war on children could last a lifetime. They need long-term care and support. They are the future of Ukraine. They need the education and skills necessary to rebuild their country when the war is over.

UNICEF can help them achieve this, but it requires ongoing monthly support. By giving each month, you can save children during this emergency and ensure they are capable of building a future once it is finally over.

10-year-old Andrii hugs his mother in Kherson – a Ukrainian city that has been ravaged by conflict for 11 years. Andrii lost his father last winter, and now has to navigate a life filled with conflict without him. “I really don’t like living without Dad,” he said. “But mum tries to make sure I’m okay. And I try to support her.”

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A family receives winter clothing kits for children and other supplies from UNICEF.

2.9 million children need urgent help

Thanks to our supporters, UNICEF is able to help children survive the horrors of war, and give them a chance at a normal future. 

With your help, we can continue supporting these families and reach even more vulnerable, traumatized children who are in desperate need. 

  • €50 can send thermal blankets to protect 8 children from the harsh winter conditions.
  • €75 can give 2 children a winter clothing kit each containing a woolly scarf, hat and mittens, a fleece, warm trousers, coat, winter socks and waterproof boots.
  • €150 can provide enough essential medicine to treat 18 sick and injured children, saving their lives. 

Other Ways to Donate

You can make a donation by phone by calling 01 878 3000 from Monday to Friday between 9:00-5:30pm.

Or you can send your donation by post to:

Freepost; UNICEF Ireland, 33 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin D01 R283.

In the unlikely event that the funds raised exceed UNICEF’s funding requirements for this appeal, your donation will be directed to where the need is greatest.

Help protect children