Child's miraculous escape from falling glass panel during shelling of Donetsk's Donbass Arena

This astonishing CCTV video appears to show a child narrowly avoiding death when part of the Donbass Arena in Donetsk, Ukraine fell to the ground during a shelling attack.

The small figure is seen walking towards the stadium - which hosted an England fixture during the European Championships in 2012 - when they suddenly freeze at the sound of artillery fire.

A large glass panel then hits the ground centimetres from the figure's head.

This frame shows the falling glass panel in the split second before it crashes to the ground. Credit: YouTube

The escapee is then helped to her feet by an adult accompanying her before the pair run into the shelter of the stadium.

The ground, home to Shakhtar Donetsk, suffered serious damage in shelling yesterday despite a ceasefire agreed between the Ukraine government and Russian-backed separatists.

Reuters photographs show the glass panel missing from the stadium's construction. Credit: Reuters

"As a result of a powerful explosion, the blast wave caused serious damage to the western and eastern parts of the arena," Vadyn Gunko, the Arena's interim executive manager, told the shakhtar.com website.

He also said there were no injuries as a result of the damage.

Pro-Russian rebels walk towards the Donbass Arena stadium after the shelling yesterday. Credit: Reuters

Shakhtar have moved their headquarters from the war-torn industrial city to Kiev, with home games being played in the western city of Lviv.

The 52,000-seat venue, which hosted five matches at Euro 2012 and regularly staged Champions League matches, has suffered minor damage in shelling over the past two months with the north-eastern facade damaged in September.