THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS MISSON DEPLORES CHILD CASUALTIES IN UKRAINE WAR

“Sadly, as the world marks International Children’s Day, there is little to celebrate in Ukraine where civilians, including children, continue to pay a heavy price” said Matilda Bogner who heads the UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

UN monitors said six children were killed and 34 were wounded in May alone, bringing to more than 1,500 the total number of child casualties since Russia’s armed attack against Ukraine over 14 months ago.

Bogner deplored the armed attacks that have led to the so many child victims. “Behind every death there is an immeasurable human tragedy. This must stop now,” she said.

The UN monitoring mission said at least 525 children (276 boys, 219 girls, and 30 children, whose sex is not yet known) have been killed, and at least 1,047 have been injured in 289 cities, towns, and villages across Ukraine, in both Government controlled areas and those areas occupied by Russia, since Russia started an armed attack on 24 February 2022. It said 87 percent of the casualties were caused by explosive weapons with wide area effects, including artillery, missile and air strikes, and loitering munitions attacks.

The UN monitoring mission said the war so far left a total of almost 9,000 civilians dead and more than 15,000 wounded but it cautioned that the real figure could be considerably higher as UN monitors were not able to access some of the areas of Ukraine that have seen heavy fighting.