( CNN ) One-year-old Viktoria lives almost entirely in the dark . She was born in Donetsk , as the crisis in eastern Ukraine was taking hold last year . Now , she and her parents stay in a putrid cellar that also serves as a bomb shelter , on the outskirts of the city . They are usually packed in tight with dozens of other people . It takes torchlight to see their faces : children , women , men and the elderly , sitting in a sea of filth . There is no water and no toilet , just buckets overflowing in a space where people have to eat and sleep . This is the world Viktoria has experienced so far , the place where she is having to learn to talk and walk . It 's an extraordinary contrast with just a few years before , when Donetsk was a thriving city that helped host the European Football Championship . Now the streets are empty and most of the shops are closed . The shelling is so incessant that our driver tells me it feels like having techno music playing constantly in the background . I hear a lot about the politics of the Ukraine conflict : which leader has said what to whom , the provenance of arms , the big picture . What is missing from the debate is the people -- it is ordinary citizens who are suffering the most . Behind the grand headlines , there are children in desperate need who are suffering now and who will continue to suffer the consequences of the crisis in years to come . Around 1.7 million children are affected by the conflict in Ukraine -- including more than a thousand who are seeking refuge in bomb shelters in Donetsk . These are not modern bunkers . They are freezing holes , normally in the cellar of a house , which are simply unfit for human habitation . If a building collapses in a bombing , everyone will be buried . That is why in Debaltseve , for example , aid organizations are bringing body bags with them . Children are unbelievably stressed . They have seen friends and relatives die . They are afraid to even step outside of the cellars , as they fear they will never come back . On a recent U.N. aid convoy into Donetsk , UNICEF delivered more than 27 metric tons of essential hygiene supplies , education kits and drinking water . We made sure we prioritized the neediest children -- those in underground bomb shelters as well as those who are living with disabilities , who have been orphaned or who are affected by HIV . But this is not the sort of childhood one would imagine for 21st century Ukraine . In a country where children are too often institutionalized , the ongoing crisis can only exacerbate the problem . Social systems are collapsing and children are bearing the brunt . In an orphanage for babies born to HIV-positive women , we found there were no tests to check if babies were HIV positive or not , let alone the necessary medication to treat them . These babies are in limbo -- nobody wants to adopt them and their status is not known . This area of Ukraine had one of the highest level of HIV before the conflict began . Now we just have no idea how bad the situation has become . Elsewhere , we found children in detention in Donetsk who had n't seen relatives in more than a year . In a center for children with disabilities , mothers told us they had no insulin for their diabetic sons and daughters . We have to help these children now , but also plan for when the fighting stops -- people will need new homes , and we 'll have to deal with unexploded ordnance and the terrible psychological damage on children , among other things . This is not a case of delivering aid now and that 's the end of the story . We need to commit for the long term . Until then , though , the needs are huge and resources are scarce . In December , UNICEF called for additional support of $ 32.4 million to scale up its humanitarian response to address the urgent needs of children and families in conflict-affected areas in Ukraine . Today the needs are even greater . In the basement shelter , Viktoria 's parents cradle her tightly . They ask me the same question again and again : `` When will it all be over ? ''
Radoslaw Rzehak : one children affected by conflict in Ukraine . Rzehak : Social systems are collapsing and children are bearing the brunt .