Since the beginning of Russia’s large-scale aggression, 604 Ukrainian children have lost their lives in bombings. In three years of war, 2,421 children have been injured.*
Every day, in the regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Zaporozhye, and Mykolaiv, Russian strikes target civilian infrastructure, injuring or killing children.
Just last week, a 5-year-old child was killed in a drone attack in Kyiv. In Zaporozhye, a 17-year-old girl lost her life in a bombing. In the Sumy region, a 17-year-old boy and girl were injured. A 10-month-old infant was injured in Zaporozhye. An 11-year-old boy was injured in the Donetsk region…
The war is depriving thousands of Ukrainians of their childhood and adolescence. Children’s daily lives are marked by air raid sirens, the fear of bombings, forced exile, compromised access to education, and the loss of loved ones.
Added to this is the fate of the 19,546 children abducted by Russian forces and subjected to an attempted re-education to erase their Ukrainian identity.
These war crimes must stop and be judged. It is urgent to act to protect children in Ukraine, ensure the return of children forcibly taken to Russia to their families, and bring those responsible to justice to guarantee a just and lasting peace.
*Source: Office of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General.
