Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a harrowing announcement during a video message posted on Facebook on Wednesday where he said that at least 103 children have been killed in the region since the beginning of Russia's unprovoked invasion.
In the video, which Zelensky recorded before addressing the U.S. Congress, the president said that Russian troops continued shelling Ukrainian territory, peaceful cities, and citizens. The official noted that Kharkiv was one of the affected regions as well as the coast of the Odesa region. He added that Moscow's forces also fired missiles at Kyiv and hit civilian infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia.
Children's Death Toll
Zelensky noted that Russian forces have caused "hundreds of times more damage" in Ukraine than in Donbas during the eight years of war. He also said that there were a total of 400 educational institutions that have been destroyed in the region, 119 of which were found in the Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian president said he was able to speak with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), noting that the Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine and law enforcement agencies have already begun working to bring "invaders" to justice, as per CNN.
In an update posted on Telegram, Ukraine's Prosecutor General, Irina Venediktova, also argued that there have been more than 100 children who have been killed while 100 more have been injured amid the war. However, her office warned that the death toll was likely much higher, noting that it was difficult to get accurate data due to the fighting.
Many of the child victims lost their lives in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Kherson said the prosecutor's office. Ukrainian authorities added that Russia's attacks also hit medical and rehabilitation facilities, including one for children with disabilities.
According to People, in a statement, Venediktova urged for a United Nations special mission to determine if children's rights were violated during the war. Despite the reports and tallies, Russian authorities have denied targeting civilian sites with their forces and armaments.
Russia-Ukraine War
One of the children killed amid the war was a football player who was inside a vehicle that was struck by Russian forces during an attempted evacuation. There were also reports of a nine-year-old and an 18-year-old who died while running across a damaged bridge in Irpin.
Another young victim was killed on Friday while inside a car at a checkpoint in Kharkiv, the location of some of the most aggressive attacks in the country. The UN released a report on Saturday, noting that 579 people in total have been killed in Russian attacks between Feb. 24 and Mar. 11.
In Zelensky's Saturday address, he said, "Now when the war is going on and thousands of people have died in it! And 79 children have died in it. 79 children! Do you feel why we are different from them? We live. And they kill. We are 79 lives. And they are 79 deaths," The Hill reported. The situation comes as the ICC has opted to open an investigation into potential war crimes carried out by Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection to his invasion of Ukraine.
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