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Mark [a 4-year old Ukrainian boy] survived the attack, [...] thanks to his mother’s quick thinking and protection, but he has endured injuries and a trauma that will take many years to heal. He suffered from fractures to his skull, a crushed nose and injuries that have left him blind in one eye.
There has been a significant rise in child casualties in Ukraine in recent months as Russia indiscriminately targets heavily populated civilian areas, with 222 children killed or injured between March and May this year and 2,889 in total since the start of the invasion. Given the delay in verifying deaths, the UN says the true number is likely to be much higher.
Ukrainian rights group say Russia’s attacks are not accidental and should be more strongly condemned by international leaders. “Under international humanitarian law, deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure – especially schools, hospitals, and places where children gather – is considered a war crime,” says Daria Kasyanova, chair of the Ukrainian Child Rights Network.
Amnesty says it has documented “numerous instances of Russian forces conducting indiscriminate attacks in Ukraine, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties” and that “indiscriminate strikes that kill or injure civilians constitute war crimes”.
Even if the conflict ends, Ukraine now has one of the highest prevalence of explosive remnants of war and landmines globally, says the UN, which are likely to cause continuing casualties among children in particular far into the future.
For children such as Mark who have survived, the injuries – physical and emotional – that have been inflicted are life-changing. A Unicef survey earlier this year, estimated at least one in five children in Ukraine have experienced a personal loss to the war, whether a sibling, parent or friend.
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