According to a report by the United Nations (UN), the Russian army and its armed groups have been included in the UN’s “list of shame” for the killing and injuring of hundreds of children during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The UN Security Council report, seen by Reuters and reported by AFP, states that Russia killed at least 136 children in Ukraine last year, leading to their inclusion on a global list of offenders.
The report, compiled by Virginia Gamba, the UN’s special representative for children and armed conflict, highlights that there were at least 24,300 violations against children in conflict zones in 2022. The annual report focuses on the treatment of children in conflict and covers various offenses such as killings, injuries, sexual abuse, abduction, recruitment, denial of aid access, and attacks on schools and hospitals.
The purpose of the “list of shame” is to publicly shame the parties involved in the conflict and encourage them to take measures to protect children during wartime. The full report will be made public the following week and reveals that the majority of violations occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Yemen.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in the report, stated that non-state armed groups were responsible for 50% of the grave violations, while government forces were the main perpetrators of killings, injuries, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access.
Regarding Russia and Ukraine, the UN report indicates that Russian armed forces and affiliated groups killed over 100 children, injured 518 children, and conducted 480 attacks on schools and hospitals. Russian forces have also been accused of using 91 children as human shields. In Ukraine, armed forces killed 80 children, injured 175 children, and carried out 212 attacks on schools and hospitals. However, Ukraine did not make it onto the “list of shame.”
During her visit to Kyiv and Moscow, Virginia Gamba met with Russia’s envoy for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes charges along with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ICC had issued an arrest warrant against them earlier this year for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children and the unlawful transfer of people from Ukraine to Russia since the conflict began.
UN Secretary-General Guterres expressed his shock and appallment at the high number of grave violations committed in Ukraine, particularly against children by Ukrainian armed forces. He also condemned the attacks on schools, hospitals, and protected personnel, as well as the number of children killed and injured by Russian forces and affiliated armed groups. It is noteworthy that despite years of criticism, Israel has not been included in the “list of shame” for the killing of Palestinian children. The UN report reveals that Israeli forces killed 42 children last year and 78 in 2021. Guterres acknowledged a decrease in the number of children killed by Israeli forces but expressed ongoing concern about the casualties inflicted during hostilities.
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