UN report details devastating impact of hostilities on children in Ukraine

“The ongoing hostilities and occupation of parts of Ukraine by the Russian Federation have caused large-scale human rights violations and inflicted unimaginable suffering on millions of children. Their rights have been undermined in every aspect of life, leaving deep scars, both physical and psychosocial,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk.

Between 24 February 2022 and 31 December 2024, the UN Human Rights Office verified that 669 children were killed and 1,833 injured, many as a result of the extensive use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Of these, 521 were killed and 1,529 injured in territory controlled by Ukraine, and 148 were killed and 304 injured in currently occupied territory. The actual numbers are likely much higher.

Vast areas of Ukraine are now littered with landmines and explosive remnants of war, posing long-term risks to children’s lives and safety.

As of December 2024, an estimated 737,000 children had been internally displaced by the hostilities. A further 1.7 million were refugees, many of them separated from a parent, usually their father. 

Children in areas of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation are especially vulnerable, the report says. Particularly in the months following the invasion, the Russian armed forces directed widespread violence against civilians, including children.

The UN Human Rights Office also verified that, in the first year after the invasion, at least 200 children, including many living in institutions, were transferred within occupied territory or to the Russian Federation – acts that may constitute war crimes. However, without access to the Russian Federation or occupied territory, the Office has not been able to fully assess the scale of these transfers.

Since annexing four regions of Ukraine in late 2022, in breach of international law, the Russian Federation authorities have made sweeping and profound changes to laws, institutions and governance there, directly affecting children and their human rights.

They have imposed Russian citizenship and the Russian school curriculum, while also restricting any access to education in the Ukrainian language. They have prioritised military-patriotic training at school and in youth groups, exposing children to war propaganda. These changes violate international humanitarian law, which obliges the occupying Power to protect children, respect their national identity, and maintain the continuity of their education and culture.

During the period under review, at least 1,614 attacks destroyed or damaged schools. In response, the Ukrainian authorities have implemented a broad range of measures, including requiring schools to have bomb shelters or to deliver classes online. Over a third of Ukrainian children attend school fully or partially online. However, frequent air raid alerts disrupt in-person classes and attacks by Russian armed forces on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have caused repeated power outages that shut down online classes, or prevent them taking place entirely, sometimes for protracted periods.

According to the report, after three years of unrelenting hostilities, children’s level of educational attainment has gone down, diminishing their future educational path and ability to realise their full potential, in employment and beyond. 

“It is clear that Ukrainian children have endured a wide range of wartime experiences, all with serious impacts - some as refugees in Europe, others as direct victims, under continued threat of bombardment, and many subject to the coercive laws and policies of the Russian authorities in occupied areas,” the High Commissioner said.

“As our report makes clear, acknowledging and addressing violations are essential to ensure a future where all Ukrainian children can reclaim their rights, identity and security, free from the enduring consequences of war and occupation,” said Türk.