Russia has killed 688 Ukrainian children since the start of the full-scale war, and injured 2,392. Ukraine has also documented at least 23 cases of sexual violence against children, Ukrainian Ombudsperson Dmytro Lubinets says.
His statements were made during an interactive dialogue with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.
Russia reduces schools and hospitals to ruins
Lubinets notes that 4,505 educational institutions and 2,551 medical facilities have been damaged or destroyed. These facts starkly illustrate Russia’s systemic terror against Ukrainian citizens and children, turning life into hell for the youngest.
Another grim aspect is the deportation of hundreds of Ukrainian children, whom Russia sends to special institutions for ideological re-education and militarization. These are direct evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Call to action: hold Russia accountable
The Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner urged concrete measures: ensure the return of deported children, obtain accurate information from Russia about their whereabouts, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“Since 2014, Russia has been killing, maiming, and deporting Ukrainian children. The scale of the tragedy has become shocking,” the ombudsperson emphasizes, highlighting the urgency of international intervention.
On 7 March, Russian forces struck a residential building in Kharkiv, killing 11 people, including a 13-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy.
Following the strike, Ukraine conducted an assault on the Bryansk plant supplying components for the control block of the BUBS‑30 used in the new Izdelie‑30 cruise missile, the same type used against the Kharkiv building.
