Russian forces and their allied mercenary groups have been added to the UN’s “list of shame” for child rights violations in conflict for their actions in Ukraine.
“I am deeply shocked by the large number of attacks against schools, hospitals and protected personnel, as well as the large number of deaths and mutilations of children attributed to Russian troops and their affiliated armed groups,” the secretary-general of the Russian Federation said on Thursday. UN, António Guterres, comments on the report to be released next week, which was viewed by the France Presse news agency on Thursday.
According to this report – which has only been distributed to members of the Security Council for now – the UN has confirmed the number of 477 children killed in Ukraine in 2022, including 136 deaths attributed to Russian forces and affiliated groups and 80 to Ukrainian navy.
Added to these figures are 909 cases of mutilated children, including 518 attributed to Russian armed forces and affiliated groups and 175 to Ukrainian armed forces.
“I will pay particular attention to this situation in my next report,” the UN Secretary-General promised.
Despite repeated requests from human rights groups, Israel was not added to the “list of shame”.
“I see a significant drop in the number of children killed by Israeli forces, including airstrikes, compared to my previous report,” Guterres explained.
Still, the UN Secretary-General said he was “deeply concerned about the number of children killed and maimed by Israeli forces.”
According to the report, 42 children were killed by Israeli forces in 2022, compared to 78 in 2021.
Source: DN
