At least 1,993 children in Ukraine have been killed or injured since the full-scale invasion  by Russia in 2022, averaging two child casualties per day, according to UNICEF.

The latest Ukrainian statistics showed that Russia killed 546 children and injured 1,330 since 2022, with the highest numbers of affected children being in Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson Oblasts, in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Response in Europe, stated that the true number is likely much higher than the figures UN was able to verify.

UNICEF reports that many children across Ukraine experienced levels of loss and violence detrimental to their mental health and well-being. Half of young teenagers have trouble sleeping, and 1 in 5 experience intrusive thoughts and flashbacks.

Nearly half of the children enrolled in school in Ukraine are missing out on in-person schooling, with almost one million children unable to access any in-person learning due to the war danger, according to UNICEF.

UNICEF emphasized that Ukraine’s children urgently need safety, stability, access to safe learning, child protection services, and psychosocial support, but more than anything, they need peace.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office reported the latest cases of Russian assaults harming Ukrainian children:

• On 8 May: Russian shelling in Kharkiv Oblast injured four children: an eight-year-old girl, two 14-year-old boys, and a 15-year-old boy.

• On 7 May: In Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, enemy shelling injured a 6-year-old girl.

• On 6 May: Enemy shelling in Uhroidy, Sumy Oblast, injured two teenagers, aged 15 and 14.

• On 6 May: A 16-year-old girl was injured by Russian army shelling in Borova, Izium district, Kharkiv Oblast.

In April, UNICEF highlighted a concerning 40% increase in child fatalities due to the ongoing war compared to the previous year. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, 25 children were killed in Russian attacks, some as young as two months old.

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