The UNICEF has reported a harrowing 40% rise in child fatalities due to the Russia-Ukraine war this year compared to 2023.

The recent UNICEF update paints a dire portrait of the escalating human cost of the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine, especially on the youngest and most vulnerable.

In the first quarter of 2024 alone, 25 children have been killed in Russian attacks, with the death toll including infants as young as two months.

Regina De Dominicis, visiting the war-affected areas, has highlighted the compounding tragedy of destroyed civilian infrastructure, emphasizing that the threat to children extends across the nation. The stark figures reported by the UN suggest that around 600 children have been killed and over 1,350 injured since the intensification of the war in 2022, with actual figures potentially higher. The pervasive destruction extends to thousands of homes, dozens of health facilities, and hundreds of schools, severely undermining the welfare and future of Ukraine’s children.

Education, a cornerstone for development and stability, has been upended for the fourth consecutive year, with almost half of Ukraine’s children unable to attend live classroom learning and nearly a million children facing an education in jeopardy due to insecurity.

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