PRAGUE — The grim, concrete bunker-like building gives off a communist-era vibe and hardly seems like a place of sanctuary.

But for children and parents, mostly mothers, who fled Ukraine, where Russia’s unprovoked invasion has sparked Europe’s most bloody and destructive conflict since World War II, the university dormitory in an upscale district of the Czech capital of Prague, is just that: a sanctuary.

For months now, dozens of Ukrainian refugees have lived here in Brevnov, occupying small, spartan rooms, each floor sharing a bathroom and communal kitchen. But few complain, grateful for the free accommodation. On the ground floor, there is a recreation center for children, run by an international NGO. Their parents say it’s a godsend.

“There are all kinds of games here, some mathematical ones. There’s a lot here for them to do. So, they come when they can to relax, because otherwise it would be very difficult with everything we deal with,” said Olha Hrishanovich, 35, who fled in March from Chernihiv, some 150 kilometers north of Kyiv, with her twin 11-year-old sons, Saveliy and Kyrylo. Her boys are now juggling Czech school with trying to keep up online with lessons at their old school back home.

It’s just one of the many challenges that Ukrainian kids, already traumatized by the war and the loss and absence of close relatives, are now facing. While living in safety, refugee children have to adapt quickly: a new home, school, making new friends — all while barely speaking a word of the local language. In addition to schooling and counselling, Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic say that more play time has worked wonders in keeping their children’s trauma at bay.

Children have perhaps been hardest hit by Russia’s unprovoked invasion with many losing parents or becoming victims themselves. Since hostilities began on February 24, 408 children have been killed and 750 wounded, according to the latest data provided to RFE/RL from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The UN’s children agency, UNICEF, reported in August that more than five children were killed or injured in Ukraine daily, cautioning that the actual figures were probably much higher.

Copyright (c) 2015. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.