The victims of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were 545 children, while another 1,309 were injured of varying severity, the office of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General has said.
Most of all children – 529 – suffered in Donetsk region. Also high numbers were recorded in Kharkiv (348), Kherson (150), Dnipropetrovsk (136), Kyiv (130), Zaporizhzhia (108) and Mykolaiv (104) regions.
According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), at least 600 children were killed and another 1,357 were injured during the entire war, from February 24, 2022 to March 31, 2024.
A few days ago, the UN said that attacks on infrastructure on which children depend are continuing. For example, in the first three months of this year, thousands of homes, 36 health facilities and 140 educational institutions were damaged or destroyed.
At least 57 children were killed or injured in March, twice as many as in February. This was the result of Russia’s increased use of guided and unguided aerial bombs, the UN said. Separately, the shelling affected power and water supplies, exacerbating problems in the functioning of essential services, putting the lives and well-being of children at further risk.
The UN recalled that the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and health facilities are serious violations of international law. “The laws of war must be respected. Children and the civilian infrastructure on which their well-being depends must be protected”, UNICEF emphasized.
In addition, the UN drew attention to the problems with access to education caused by the war. According to the organization, almost half of the children enrolled in schools in Ukraine are deprived of the opportunity to attend classes, and about a million more have no access to any form of full-time education due to insecurity.
A total of 10,810 civilians have been killed and another 20,556 injured since the start of the war in Ukraine. At the same time, the UN noted that the real number of civilian casualties is much higher than the figures that have been confirmed.
The day before, Russia launched a strike on Odessa. One of the missiles hit the Palace of Students of the Odessa Law Academy. As a result, five people were killed. Another 32, including two children aged five and 16, were injured.
