Twelve-year-old Sasha, left, walks to school in the town of Avdivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, November 2017. Because of shelling and lack of heat, his school is open only three days a week.

Scars of War

After nearly four years of volatile conflict, the scars of war run deep on eastern Ukraine's youngest citizens.

Photographer Ashley Gilbertson travelled with UNICEF to the line that divides the government and non-government controlled areas in eastern Ukraine to capture the lives of children living in one of the most mine-contaminated places on earth. Thousands of rounds of unexploded ordnance now litter fields and civilian areas, and there is regular shelling around homes and schools. 

A child crossing a checkpoint overseen by the Ukrainian military in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, November 2017. Lines at the checkpoint can last an entire day for people trying to cross.

It can take an entire day to cross the Kurahovo checkpoint overseen by the Ukrainian military between government controlled territory and areas controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. There is sporadic shelling, and the fields around the area are littered with land mines.

Person Holding Bird

Aleksey, 14, lost two fingers and a thumb : “Something fell from a passing military vehicle. I wasn’t sure what it was. It looked like a pen,” Aleksey says. “I picked it up, and it exploded. My first feeling was shock and pain. I looked down and saw my fingers were hanging from my hand.”

Aleksey, 14, lost a thumb and two fingers when a grenade he found exploded in his hand in Donesk Oblast, Ukraine.

“My whole life has changed,” Aleksey says. “I can’t do everything I could do before without my fingers, but I’m getting used to it. I’m learning how to write with my left hand. It’s not very good yet, but I’m trying. Sometimes I get so upset, I break into tears.”

Vadim, 9, stands outside his old home in a building known by locals as the "coloring book," in Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. When he was six, he was injured by shelling, and when he was seven, he was run over by a Ukrainian military vehicle.

Vadim, 9, has scars and a metal plate in his head. When he was six, he was injured by shelling. “I was with my brother in the yard,” he recalls. “We heard something fly towards us and I felt pain in my shoulder. My brother was behind a tree. That saved him.” A year later, a Ukrainian military vehicle hit him, breaking his leg and damaging his skull.

Vadim, 9, points to damage on his old home, in a building known locally as the "coloring book" in Avdiivka, Dontesk Oblast, Ukraine, November 2017.

Vadim points to damage on his old home in Avdiivka, eastern Ukraine. He says he doesn’t know why the two sides are fighting, all he really knows is there are men in uniform everywhere, and that he’s afraid of them.

Misha, 9, had shrapnel removed from his brain in 2016 in eastern Ukraine.

Misha, 9, had shrapnel removed from his brain in 2016. He was walking to his house when a shell dropped nearby . “I didn’t feel anything at that moment. I was just stunned, ” Misha says.

Misha, 9, and his mother live in the "grey zone" in Marinka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, November 2017. Marinka sits on the contact line that divides government and non-government controlled areas in eastern Ukraine.

Misha with his mother on a bike outside their home in Mariinka, eastern Ukraine. After nearly four years of fighting, Misha says, “It’s not that scary here. I’m already used to shootings. They do it at night. When the shelling starts, I hide under my blanket, but I don’t think it will protect me.”

Anya, 13, plays in the yard in the town of Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine in November 2017. Anya and her family moved into a relative's house after theirs was destroyed twice by shelling.

Anya, 13, plays in the yard at her grandmother’s house where she and her siblings live. Their family home in Avdiivka was destroyed twice by shelling. They are only allowed to play outside in their yard, but even there it is not safe.

Anya, 13, looks out the window of her old, now destroyed home in Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine in November 2017.

Anya looks out of the window of her old, now destroyed, home. “I used to be afraid a lot,” she says. “During heavy shelling, we hid in the cellar, and then we started hiding in the kitchen. Now there’s no glass in the kitchen, so we just sit on the bed. Now I don’t care at all. I’m not afraid anymore.”

Sasha, 12, attends school in Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine in November 2017. A bullet shattered his ankle while he was riding his bike in 2016.

Sasha, 12, at school in Avdiivka. In August 2016, he was riding his bike close to home when a bullet shattered his ankle. “They were shooting somewhere in the distance," he recalls. "But I didn’t hear the bullet fly or anything. Before this, I wanted to become a famous football player.”

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All photographs by Ashley Gilbertson VII for UNICEF.

Top photo: Twelve-year-old Sasha, far left, walks to school in the town of Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, November 2017. Frequent shelling and a lack of heat have reduced his school's hours to three days a week, with classes cut short to 20-minute sessions. There used be 20 students in his class, but the number has dwindled to 10 as families have fled in search of safety.