(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 17 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 un 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 hadn'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 $324 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 ukraine
radoslaw rzehak: about 17 million children affected by conflict in ukraine . rzehak: social systems are collapsing and children are bearing the brunt 