Russia has killed at least 707 Ukrainian children since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said.
In a statement on Thursday that marks the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, Lubinets said that 2,548 children have been injured and 2,318 remain missing as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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“For the whole world, this is a commemorative date. For us, it is a daily struggle for the right to exist,” Lubinets wrote.
According to him, the youngest confirmed victim was a two-day-old baby who was killed in a maternity hospital.
“These figures may be significantly higher because we still do not know the full truth from the temporarily occupied territories,” Lubinets said.
Thousands of children deported or forcibly displaced
Lubinets also said that thousands of Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia or forcibly transferred from occupied territories since the beginning of the war.
“We are working to bring every child home and give them a clear understanding that they are Ukrainians, and that Ukraine is fighting for them,” he said.
Lubinets said Ukraine continues to raise the issue with its allies and called on the global community not to overlook the impact of the war on children.
“The world must hear this: children should not lose their lives, their health, or become orphans,” he said.
“Our children deserve a safe childhood – the same as children in any other peaceful country.”
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Russia faces growing scrutiny over treatment of Ukrainian children
Ukraine and its partners have repeatedly accused Russia of illegally transferring children from occupied territories and attempting to erase their Ukrainian identity through re-education programs and forced adoption schemes.
Kyiv has made the return of deported children one of its key humanitarian priorities and continues working with international organizations to identify and recover those taken from Ukraine.
In April, Ukrainian authorities charged three people over the deportation of 35 children from the occupied Donetsk region, in a case Kyiv says amounts to a war crime.
According to investigators, the children, aged four to six, were taken from a state-run orphanage in Donetsk in February 2022, just days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion. They were transported to Russia’s Rostov region and later placed in local institutions.
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