Remarks by Denise Brown, the Head of the UN in Ukraine, at the commemoration of the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

In my almost two years in Ukraine, I have met many lovely, joyful, and smiling Ukrainian children. Despite the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation and the war, these children feel loved and protected. 

Last Christmas, in Hroza, in the Kharkiv Region, with the snow falling, we shared chocolates and candies with the children of that small rural community. We spoke of the future. A girl rushed to tell me she wanted to be a doctor, while another spoke of being a teacher. 

These are, of course, the dreams that all children have. The war hasn’t chased away those dreams.

But when I think about the children I have met, I cannot help but think of those I will never meet. 

In the same village, Hroza, there was an 8-year-old boy who was killed when a Russian missile tore apart his community on 5 October 2023. So many other children have been lost while sleeping or playing.  

The truth is shocking, and the world has to confront it: more than 600 Ukrainian children have been killed since the escalation of Russia’s invasion in February 2022. An additional 1,420 were injured. And these are only the cases that the UN has been able to verify. Despite our repeated requests to access Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, fully in line with international humanitarian law, our requests are always denied. 

The ugly truth is that the number increases almost every single day as civilian infrastructure is repeatedly hit. Last week in Kharkiv, in the space of a few minutes, a shopping centre, an office building and a park were hit. These are places where one finds children. 

More than two years on, Russia’s invasion is inflicting immense physical, psychological, and emotional harm on children, disrupting their lives and jeopardizing their future. 

In front-line oblasts, children have had to spend the equivalent of seven months in bomb shelters because of the relentless attacks. Childhood should not take place underground. 

The Russian Federation has approved and ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but the truth is that they are blatantly disregarding what they committed to. And it is for this reason that the Secretary-General officially listed Russia for the killing and maiming of Ukrainian children in 2023. 

The UN remains committed to supporting the people of Ukraine whose lives have been torn apart by the war. We consistently document these violations and work with the Government to provide the care these children so desperately need. 

I know this will not alleviate the suffering of families and will never compensate for the lives lost or the grief endured. But what happens here must be recorded in order for justice to prevail.

I will not stop repeating that the entire international community must never accept as normal what is happening in Ukraine. Children should not grow up in the middle of a war. 

War is not normal, and we must not get used to it.

***

Remarks delivered during an event organized by the Government of Ukraine, at the National Museum of History of Ukraine in the Second World War, in Kyiv on 4 June.