UNICEF: Orlando Bloom Visited Donbass to Draw Attention to Education Crisis

British actor Orlando Bloom, who is also a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), visited the southeastern Ukrainian region of Donbas to draw attention to the problem of education for children in conflict-torn countries, UNICEF Ukraine said in a press release on Wednesday.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Last week, media reported that Bloom had arrived in southeastern Ukraine and met with children affected by the conflict in the region. UNICEF did not provide any official comments on Bloom's visit due to security concerns.

"UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom travelled to conflict-hit eastern Ukraine to raise awareness of the global education crisis facing children in humanitarian emergencies. Bloom visited classrooms hit by shells just three kilometres [some 1.86 miles] from the frontline of the conflict that broke out more than two years ago," the press release reads.

Kiev launched a military operation in Ukraine’s southeast in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, which came to power as a result of a coup.

The conflicting sides reached a ceasefire agreement last February. The truce is generally holding, according to international observers, yet the sides continue to accuse each other of sporadic ceasefire breaches. The confrontation has claimed over 9,000 lives, according to UN estimates.