Zelensky says at least 707 Ukrainian children killed since start of full-scale invasion
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 4 that at least 707 Ukrainian children have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Speaking on the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, he called for real protection and accountability, saying "the fate of one child and the fate of one country" must not depend on Moscow's ballistic missiles. Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets reported 2,548 children injured and 2,318 missing.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 4 that at least 707 Ukrainian children have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, speaking on the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression.
"What is needed is real protection of life. Action is needed. Accountability is needed so that the fate of one child and the fate of one country never depend on whether Moscow has ballistic missiles or not," Zelensky said in a speech marking the day, which was established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 1982. He added: "Putin is a child killer. The Russian army is a child killer."
Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets reported that 2,548 children have been injured and 2,318 remain missing as a result of the war. Lubinets said the youngest confirmed victim was a two-day-old baby 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," he said.
Zelensky said Russia has committed similar atrocities in Syria and Georgia. "Russia demonstrates its power on children, and this does not apply only to Ukraine," he said. Ukraine established a memorial day for children killed by Russian aggression by a parliamentary resolution in 2021.