Child casualties in Ukraine within 9 months of 2024 surpass 2023 figures, UN reports

Child casualties in Ukraine during the first nine months of 2024 have exceeded the total for 2023, highlighting the devastating impact of the war on children, the U.N. Humanitarian Aid Organization for Children (UNICEF) said on Dec. 27.

Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted from Russian-occupied territories and relocated to other Russian-controlled areas or Russia itself, according to Ukraine’s national database.

UNICEF reported that 2024 had been one of the worst years for children in conflict zones globally.

A record 32,900 grave violations against 22,500 children were confirmed since 2023 — the highest number since the U.N. began monitoring these violations nearly 20 years ago.

"By almost every measure, 2024 has been one of the worst years on record for children in conflict in UNICEF’s history," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

Russell added that children in conflict zones face heightened risks of being out of school, malnourished, or forcibly displaced.

In Ukraine, as well as in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, and Sudan, millions of children have lost access to education due to damaged, destroyed, or repurposed schools.

Globally, over 52 million children in conflict-affected regions are deprived of education, with many in Gaza and Sudan missing more than a year of school.

Russia has conducted a "systematic, intentional, and widespread" program of forced adoption and Russification of deported Ukrainian children, according to a Yale School of Public Health study published on Dec. 3.

Ukrainian children have been sent to at least 21 regions across Russia, subjected to pro-Russian re-education, and placed in Russian families.

The war has claimed the lives of approximately 600 Ukrainian children, according to the Ukrainian database, with UNICEF predicting further increases in child victims in 2025 if the conflict continues unabated.

"This must not be the new normal. We cannot allow a generation of children to become collateral damage to the world’s unchecked wars," Russell said.

Russia could inflict ‘substantial’ casualties by unconventional attack against NATO, allied official says

“What really worries me is that one of these attacks, as I say, will break through in a big way,” Deputy Assistant Secretary General James Appathurai told Sky News.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

Source link

Related posts:

Ukraine war latest: Russian An-72 military transport plane damaged in blast near Moscow, Ukraine's intel claims Ukraine war latest: Over 3,000 North Korean troops killed, wounded in Kursk Oblast, Zelensky says Ukraine war latest: Russia sets goal to fully occupy 4 Ukrainian regions in 2025 Breakaway churches, spiritual awakenings, prayers in captivity. How war is changing Ukraine’s faith Ukraine war latest: Ukraine hits ballistic missile propellant plant in Rostov Oblast; North Korean troops endure heavy losses 2024: Ukraine in photos Our readers' questions about the war, answered. Vol. 7 Ukraine war latest: For the first time, Ukraine attacks Russian positions using solely ground, FPV drones