A car with the words "Children" written on it is seen with bullet holes in the windscreen on April ... [+]
In May 2024, the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that nearly 2,000 children in Ukraine were killed or injured amidst ongoing and escalating war. The statement made it clear that this tally of children’s deaths is likely to be higher. The report comes shortly after Russia escalated its attacks in the Kharkiv region that killed several children. The Kharkiv region has experienced several waves of attacks in recent weeks, which have led to more civilian deaths and injuries. There has been massive destruction of civilian infrastructure in the region. Recent weeks have also seen several attacks in Donetsk and Sumy regions, in the east and the north of the country. Homes and civilian infrastructure were damaged during the attacks. Across Ukraine, more than 700 civilian casualties and 47 attacks on energy infrastructure were reported in April alone.
As the war rages on, the humanitarian situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate. In January 2024, Edem Wosornu, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Director of Operations and Advocacy, reported the scale of humanitarian needs in Ukraine remains vast with more than 14.6 million people (about 40% of Ukraine’s population) require some form of humanitarian assistance. Four million people, including nearly one million children, are still displaced within the country. Over 6.3 million people continue to live as refugees globally. According to Save the Children, 2.9 million children in Ukraine are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The (more than) two years of the war have had a devastating toll on people in Ukraine, with causalities being assessed at over 10,000 civilians being killed since Russia launched its full-scale armed attack against Ukraine (according to the U.N. data published in November 2023). However, the real numbers are likely to be much higher. Furthermore, with the escalation of hostilities in the Kharkiv region, these numbers will continue to rise.
Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office and its Regional Director, stated that “at least 1,993 children in Ukraine have been killed or injured since the escalation of war more than two years ago, an average of two child casualties each day.” The ongoing war has a profound effect on the well-being of children in Ukraine. As indicated by UNICEF, the attacks in Ukraine have harmfully affected the mental health and well-being of children, with half of teenagers reporting trouble sleeping and one in five reported having intrusive thoughts and flashbacks.
Furthermore, nearly half of children enrolled in school in Ukraine are missing out on in-person schooling, with almost one million children across the country not able to access any in-person learning opportunities due to insecurity. In 2023 alone, UNICEF is said to have helped 1.3 million children with formal and non-formal learning opportunities and 2.5 million children and caregivers with mental health and psychosocial support services. As the war rages on, these needs will only increase.
The effects of the war on children in Ukraine received some attention after, in March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova for their crimes against children. According to the ICC statement, Vladimir Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of the population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute).” It further adds that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute).” Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, faced similar charges. In February 2024, the U.N. Security Council held their first-ever closed-door session with Ukrainian Children abducted during Russia’s invasion. However, to this many, thousands of Ukrainian children continue to be kept in Russia.
The situation of children in Ukraine, as affected by Russia’s war, requires urgent response. As emphasized by UNICEF, Ukraine’s children urgently need safety, stability, access to safe learning, child protection services, and psychosocial support. More than anything, Ukraine’s children need peace.
