Civilian suffering shows no sign of letting up in Ukraine as the four-year-mark of Russia's full-scale invasion nears amid attacks on energy infrastructure, blackouts and freezing temperatures, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters from a basement in Kherson, UN Children's Fund ( UNICEF ) representative in Ukraine Munir Mammadzade said that the frontline city remains "under constant fire," with daily attacks destroying homes and critical infrastructure, as well as the services that children and families rely on.
"I have been constantly hearing artillery shelling," he said, speaking of yet another "massive, coordinated attack" which reportedly impacted civilian and energy infrastructure overnight.
The city's children's hospital was attacked eight times on Tuesday morning, Mr. Mammadzade added.
Childhood underground
With few places offering any sanctuary in Kherson, daily life is "a matter of survival" for children and families in the frontline area, the UNICEF representative said.
The region is "almost fully covered in anti-drone nets" and childhood has "literally moved underground," he stressed.
Out of some 60,000 children who lived in Kherson prior to the start of Russia's full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, only about 5,000 are left, and have to "learn, play and sleep in basements just to stay safe."
Mr. Mammadzade made his comments to journalists at a press briefing in Geneva, as negotiators from Ukraine and Russia gathered in the Swiss city on Tuesday for two days of US-brokered talks.
Speaking of the basement turned into a child protection hub managed by UNICEF from which he was connecting, Mr. Mammadzade said that there are "kids in the neighbouring room playing and engaging with psychologists, which is something precious to witness in places like Kherson because you hardly see people outside."
