Since the Russian invasion six weeks ago, almost two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes. The United Nations also announced that there had been 142 deaths, but the agency thinks the number could be higher, the Associated Press reports.
According to Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF's emergency programs director, having 4.8 million out of 7.5 million children displaced in such a short time is incredible. He says that it is something that he has not witnessed in his 31 years of humanitarian work.
The kids have been forced to leave everything behind - their homes, schools, and even family members. He said he had heard stories of parents getting their kids to safety despite the significant risks and of children saddened that they cannot get back to school.
Children displaced in other parts of Ukraine, and other countries
Ukraine's UN ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said that Russia has taken more than 121,000 children out of Ukraine and is drafting bills to simplify the adoption procedures for orphans and even those who have parents and relatives. Kyslytsya says that the children were removed from the besieged southern port city of Mariupol and were taken to eastern Donetsk and the Russian city of Taganrog.
UNICEF said they heard similar reports, but they do not have the access that they need to be able to look and verify if they can assist.
Of the 4.8 million children, 2.8 million are in Ukraine, while more than 2 million are in other countries. Nearly half of the estimated 3.2 million children are still in their homes in Ukraine but are at risk of running out of food supply, The Independent said.
The closing of schools affects the education of 5.7 million younger children and 1.5 million students in higher education.
The UN Women agency also said they are hosting 95,000 Ukrainian women refugees. Sima Bahous, the agency's executive director, says her agency hears allegations of rape and sexual violence. She is also concerned about the risk of human trafficking, especially for young women and unaccompanied teenagers.
Ukraine's ambassador said his country's prosecutor's office is now investigating a case in which a Russian soldier killed a resident in Kyiv and raped his wife in their home. The perpetrator has been identified, the ambassador said.
The cost of war on women and children
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia has bombed orphanages and maternity hospitals, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. She said they had seen mass graves of children stacked on top of each other.
Albanian Ambassador Ferit Hoxha, on the other hand, has accused Russia of committing "unspeakable crimes" such as throwing bodies in mass graves, burning civilians, attacking schools and playgrounds on purpose, and leaving Ukrainians, especially women and children, suffering.
The ambassadors also point to the bombing of at least 52 women and children at a train station in eastern Kramatorsk. Hoxha said that the missile had a vicious message "for our children."
Lord Tariq Ahmad, Britain's minister of state for the UN, said that the Russian attacks on the civilians and residential areas are "truly barbaric," The Yahoo! News reported.
