The United Nations held a memorial service this Friday. More than 9,000 dead civiliansA “brutal milestone” in a war, including more than 500 children who died in the first 500 days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “continues to incur a terrible cost” to the country’s population.
Human Rights Observation Mission in Ukraine and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 9,177 civilians killed And 15,993 people were injuredalways according to extremely conservative estimates, in the words of mission deputy Noel Calhoun.
HRMMU, generally speaking, The death toll has decreased this year compared to the previous year. but it is far from that for optimism, because “the last two weeks have witnessed the bloodiest fighting since the start of the war.”
The United Nations cites as an example Missile attack on Kramatorsk, Ukraine on 27 Junekilled 13 people, including writer and activist Victoria Amelina. The UN also lists 22 civilians killed and 16 injured in recent Russian-occupied Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the NGO Save the Children also commemorated this day with a memory for the affected minors: An average of three children are killed or injured every day in Ukraine. According to the estimates of the second organization, because of the Russian occupation.
The NGO warned that more than 90 percent of civilian casualties in Ukraine are the result of large-range explosive weapons, which are particularly deadly to children with smaller and more fragile bodies.
UNICEF recalls that conflicts damage basic infrastructure for children, such as schools and hospitals. Attacks on water systems leave hundreds of thousands of people without access, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks among children.
In some areas lack of food and medicineand stopped basic health, education and social protection services. Boys and girls also face the threat of a mental health crisis caused by their severe trauma.
This unsustainable situation, combined with the socio-economic crisis caused by the war, is devastating the well-being of children and families. Many are forced to leave their homes and shelter in makeshift shelters, leading to the displacement of millions inside and outside Ukraine. Almost two-thirds of the population, including unaccompanied boys and girls, had to move to survive..