UNICEF responded to the shelling by Russia-led forces on schools and kindergartens in Donbas, calling on the parties to adhere to the full provision of safe education and the right to a safe childhood.

"Attacks on kindergartens and schools over the past eight years have become a sad reality for children in eastern Ukraine. More than 750 educational institutions have been damaged since the start of the conflict, limiting the education of thousands of children on both sides of the contact line," the organization's website said on Thursday in the evening.

UNICEF said that the conflict has a devastating effect on psychological state of an entire generation in eastern Ukraine. "Moreover, children in eastern Ukraine live in one of the most polluted areas in the world. Every day they live, play, go to school in areas littered with mines, unexploded ordnance and other deadly explosive remnants of war," the report said.

The information also notes that since the beginning of the conflict, UNICEF has been working in eastern Ukraine, organizing psychological assistance and mine safety education for more than 180,000 children, young people and their parents. UNICEF is also renovating schools and kindergartens and delivering educational materials such as study kits, furniture and sports equipment.

UNICEF calls on all parties to adhere to the Safe Schools Declaration and to protect children and their guardians from attack, no matter the circumstances in which they find themselves. Schools must remain a safe space where children are protected from threats and crises, and a secure shelter where they can learn, play and grow to their full potential. Children's right to education cannot be secured in conflict if education itself is unprotected," the organization said in a statement.

UNICEF will continue to work with conflict-affected communities to provide life-saving assistance and the immediate needs of the most vulnerable children and their families.