Children in Ukraine have spent weeks sleeping in layered clothing and sleeping bags in homes without electricity or heating, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska told the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).
Speaking remotely to the EESC’s February plenary session, Zelenska said some residential buildings were only about 10 °C at best, with parents placing hot-water bottles around their children at night, the EESC reported on Wednesday.
The session — held ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion — focused on what the EESC described as the war’s long-term impact on children and young people, including trauma, injury, displacement and disrupted education.
Zelenska said 684 children have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded over the past four years.
Separate figures cited during the debate show 73% of children feel unsafe and 54% report feeling sadness, according to UNICEF.
About 43% of children experience severe psychological distress, including anxiety, fear and difficulty concentrating.
Zelenska also called for underground infrastructure to provide safe spaces for children to learn, and said her foundation is working with UNICEF and other organisations on psychological support and rehabilitation.
Abducted children and an international summit
The situation is “even more severe” for almost 20,000 children abducted by Russia, the EESC said.
Baiba Tavaresa, head of the European External Action Service’s Ukraine Division, said the return of Ukrainian children remained a top EU priority and that the commitment would continue.
The EU, Ukraine and Canada will host an International Summit on the Return of Ukrainian Children in the spring, she added.
Testimony during the debate included Ukrainian student Yaruna Bohun, who described adapting to life as a refugee while her parents remain in Ukraine, the EESC said.
Olha Fozekosh, a Ukrainian teacher in Belgium, told delegates that the effects of war were visible in children who had fled Ukraine, describing one pupil who stopped making crafts and said she felt “empty inside.”
EESC president Séamus Boland said the committee would “stand by Ukraine and its future for as long as it takes”, and called for support to help Ukrainian children grow up “in safe and dignified conditions.”
