Ukrainian authorities estimated on Wednesday that at least 313 children have been killed since the start of the war with Russia on February 24.
The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office said in a message on its account on the messaging platform Telegram that 313 children have been confirmed killed by Russian forces to date and another 579 wounded.
“These figures are not definitive, as work is ongoing in places of active hostilities and in temporarily occupied and liberated territories,” he said.
Donetsk province is the one with the highest number of victims.
According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office, 1,985 educational institutions suffered material damage as a result of attacks by Russian forces, of which 194 were “completely destroyed”.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has already denounced that the bombings in Ukraine are killing and maiming children and preventing them from returning to “any kind of normal life”.
According to the latest figures from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, a total of 277 children have died and 456 have been injured since the start of the war, mainly due to the use of explosives in urban areas.
In response, UNICEF on Tuesday called for an end to attacks on civilian infrastructure and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
UNICEF’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia, Afshan Khan, said the war in Ukraine “is a child rights crisis”, and that UNICEF is working to support children and their families “wherever are found in the country.
In the early hours of February 24, Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine, which was condemned by a large part of the international community, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia.
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