“It was really hard to stand on my feet again”

Zakhar, 12, remembers that September evening in 2025 only in broken fragments. He and his friends were walking to the small local shop, the only place in their village in Kharkiv region where they could get a mobile signal. They were laughing and chatting when they stumbled upon a strange object in the grass. One of the boys kicked it. Then came a deafening blast – a blur of smoke, pain, and ringing silence.

It was a hand grenade. The explosion left Zakhar and another boy with shrapnel wounds, burns, and concussions. Their two other friends, uninjured but terrified, ran to a nearby farm to call for help.

“I hardly remember that day,” says Zakhar, a shy boy with serious eyes. “I just remember my friend finding the grenade and kicking it. Then the explosion. I fell. Everything spun around, and I crawled away. After that, I only remember bandages and the hospital.”

A childhood disrupted

Before the accident, Zakhar and his mother lived in Kupiansk district, an area that was severely damaged during the first months of the war. They endured constant shelling, hunger, and isolation.

“Our whole community was shattered,” his mother Natalka recalls. “Shells kept landing nearby. Windows were blown out. Shops didn’t work. Food was scarce. We lived off vegetables from the garden and cooked on open fires because there was no gas or electricity. It was getting harder to live there with a child.”

Even when the fighting became less intense, hidden dangers remained in their community Four years into the full-scale war, the threat of mines and explosives to children in Ukraine persists. 

Ukraine is now one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, with more than 20 per cent of its territory – around 146,076 square kilometres of land and water – potentially contaminated with explosives. This includes spaces where children should be safe and protected, such as playgrounds and schools. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 179 children have been killed or injured by mines and explosive remnants of war since February 2022.  

“Our teacher once told us online that mines are dangerous,” said Zakhar. “But the connection was poor — sometimes I couldn’t even hear the lessons.”

However, according to a UNICEF survey, more than half of Ukrainian teenagers engage in risky behaviour around mines and explosive objects despite knowing the risks. “We used to roam around the village, go fishing, wander near the quarry,” Zakhar says. “There were no signs saying ‘Mines’. We just didn’t think about it.”

“Your son has been blown up”

On that fateful evening, Natalka had just returned home from working at a local farm when children came running and shouting: “Your son Zakhar has been blown up on a mine!”

She sprinted out and found her son lying on the ground, his leg wrapped in his torn T-shirt. “A local man helped to bandage him. I was terrified but tried to stay calm,” she recalls. She quit her job to stay by his side through the surgeries and months of rehabilitation.

Zakhar suffered the worst injuries of all the boys. “His leg muscles were torn. His body was full of shrapnel,” Natalka says quietly. “They even had to transplant skin. The hardest part was helping him stand again.”

Starting the recovery journey 

The day after the accident, UNICEF’s mine victim assistance programme partner International Rescue Committee (IRC) contacted the family. “When we learned about the incident, we immediately developed a support plan,” says Viktoriia, a case worker at IRC. “That included psychological counselling and financial aid to support medical treatment. Natalka also received cash assistance from UNICEF to help cover essentials and urgent needs, since she’s a single mother who lost her job and had to relocate.”

They moved to Kharkiv as renewed shelling forced villagers to flee once more. Zakhar now studies online while undergoing therapy for both his physical and emotional recovery. “He’s a quiet, sensitive boy who needs gentle communication,” Viktoriia explains. “Our psychologists and social workers provide him with stability and care. His condition has improved, but we’ll keep supporting the family as they adapt to their new life.”

Zakhar now walks with care, after undergoing several surgeries and skin grafts on his injured leg. His wounds still ache, and air raid sirens make him flinch, but he says the worst is over.

“Now I’d never go near a mine or something strange again. I tell other kids not to either. Because it was really hard to stand on my feet again,” he said. “Before the explosion, I loved cycling. It’s been a year since I last rode a bike. But this summer, I’ll try again.”

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UNICEF’s mine victim assistance programme, in partnership with the International Rescue Committee and funded by the European Union's Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), provides holistic support to children injured by mines or other explosive weapons in Ukraine. 

UNICEF's mine and explosive ordnance risk education, conducted with partners like the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and Ministry of Education, equips children with life-saving knowledge on how to identify and protect themselves from mines, explosives and other hazards. These awareness sessions are conducted in classes and activities across the country, including in remote and high-risk communities.