As a result of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, at least 483 children were killed and 986 were injured, the General Prosecutor’s Office reported on May 29 with reference to juvenile prosecutors.
These numbers are not final as investigations continue, specifically in the areas where hostilities are taking place. To this day, there are 394 children reported missing.
From the total number of 1,469 dead and wounded, 462 underage causalities were reported in Donetsk Oblast, 278 from Kharkiv Oblast, 128 in Kyiv Oblast, 102 in Kherson Oblast, 91 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, 89 in Mykolaiv Oblast, 72 in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, 70 in Chernihiv Oblast, and 67 in Luhansk Oblast.
Children are among the most vulnerable groups in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
On May 26, Donetsk Regional Administration reported that 128 children had to be evacuated due to active hostilities.
Apart from physical threats due to Russian attacks, over 19,000 children have been abducted by the Russian authorities.
The kidnapped children are submitted to re-education to instill “pro-Russia patriotic values" and "assigned" to Russian adoptive and foster families.
The Ukrainian government and non-governmental institutions are working on their safe return. According to the "Children of War" database, so far only 371 of them have been safely returned to their families.
Daria Shulzhenko
