UN: ‘Russia Kills, Maims, Hundreds of Children In Ukraine War’
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The secretary-general of the United Nations accused Russia on Thursday of killing 136 children in Ukraine in 2022 and using 91 minors as human shields, while Russian authorities blamed Kyiv for a missile strike.
António Guterres commented in an annual report on children and armed conflict to the 15-member U.N. Security Council.
His remarks came as Russian officials said Kyiv used long-range British missiles to strike a bridge connecting southern Ukraine with the Russian-occupied Crimea Peninsula.
Photos and videos on social media showed a large crater on the bridge and debris littering the roads, but no casualties were reported.
The fighting underscored concerns about attacks impacting a growing number of civilians, including children, with Guterres saying many minors have become victims of the war since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
His report said Russian troops and affiliates groups “maimed 518 children” and carried out 480 attacks on schools and hospitals.
The report also verified, however, that Ukrainian armed forces killed 80 children, maimed 175 children, and carried out 212 attacks on schools and hospitals.
ARMED FORCES
However, unlike Russia, the Ukrainian armed forces are not on “the global offenders” list issued by the U.N.
The report was based on findings by Virginia Gamba, Guterres’ special representative for children and armed conflict.
Gamba last month visited Ukraine and Russia, where she met with Russia’s envoy for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova – whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) wants arrested on war crimes charges.
The ICC recently issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lvova-Belova, accusing them of illegally deporting children from Ukraine.
They are accused of the unlawful transfer of people to Russia after war broke out on February 24, 2022.
The U.N. report verified the abduction of 91 children by Russian armed forces; all of them were subsequently released. The report also confirmed the transfer of 46 children to Russia from Ukraine.
Moscow has not denied a program under which it brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia. But Moscow says it is a “humanitarian campaign” to protect orphans and children abandoned in the war zone.
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