Russia killed at least 790 Ukrainian children during the war
4 June 2024 12:01
Since 2014, Russia has killed at least 790 children in Ukraine. This was written by Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Children’s Rights, on Telegram, according to "Komersant Ukrainian"
The official reminded that today the world celebrates the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression. In Ukraine, this day is the Day of commemoration of children who died as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
According to the Commissioner, the killing of children is a sign of genocide.
“Since 2014, at least 790 children have been killed as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine. These are 790 murdered universes and grieving families. Each such tragedy is another evidence of the genocide of the Ukrainian people. The world must respond to the murder of innocent children and act to punish Russia and prevent new victims,”
– dmytro Lubinets wrote.
Abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia
The targeted abduction of children is also a sign of genocide, as it disrupts the demographic structure of the people and destroys their future generation. During the war, Russia set up a whole conveyor belt of such activities.
on 1 February 2024, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin said that during the war, Russia forcibly removed 19,546 children from Ukraine under the guise of “humanitarian operations”.
“These children are not only displaced, but also deprived of their Ukrainian identity: they are granted Russian citizenship, placed in Russian families, forced to undergo re-education in Russian, and forbidden to speak Ukrainian. Teenage boys are often forced to participate in militarisation programmes,”
– Kostin said.
At the same time, this estimate of the scale of abductions of Ukrainian children is not the only one and certainly not the highest. In particular, the main organiser of these abductions, the so-called Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Russian Federation, Maria Lvova-Belova, in the summer of 2023, mentioned the figure of 744,000 Ukrainian children “taken by the Russian Federation”. Russia does not provide any data on this process and is not accountable to anyone, so it is almost impossible to verify the veracity of this statement.
Daria Gerasymchuk, the Ukrainian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, questions the figure quoted by Belova and believes that it is a standard exaggeration of Russian propaganda. The Ukrainian side estimates that there may be 200-300,000 abducted Ukrainian children. These estimates are approximate, as we are talking about children from the occupied territories and information about them is collected in a variety of ways.
However, the Ukrainian side has absolutely accurate data on abductions, including personal data, only for 19,546 children. That is why this figure is officially announced, although everyone understands that it is quite far from reality.
