President Poroshenko and President Putin need to work diligently to maintain the ceasefire and move toward peace. The children are already traumatized by the war and I am quite certain some are now orphans and some may be dead.
February 15, 2015
By Dragana Jovanovic
February 15, 2015By Dragana Jovanovic
The cease-fire (click here) that went in effect in eastern Ukraine
today may quiet the guns, but the echoes of 10 months of bombardment
will likely ring in the ears of the child survivors of the conflict for
the rest of their lives.
Just hours before the fighting was supposed to stop, Ekaterina and her
8-year-old brother Ivan played on a slide and jungle gym in a central
park of Donetsk with the sound of heavy bombardment raining down around
them.
But the two children, who had only left their basement shelter Saturday
for some sunshine and fresh air as their mother went to buy food,
ignored the explosions.
Ekaterina, who is just 5 years old, even explained that she could tell
the difference between mortars, rockets, and other artillery by the
sounds they made as they hit the ground.
In 15 minutes, 25 explosions were heard, even though it was just hours
before an internationally sponsored ceasefire was to go into effect
between Ukrainians and Russian-backed separatists in a conflict that has
killed about 5,500 people....
