Geneva (TDI): The United Nations Human Rights Office has condemned Russia for causing significant harm to millions of children in Ukraine, since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022.
A new report published by the United Nations Human Rights highlighted the unimaginable harm that Russia’s full-scale invasion has caused to the children of Ukraine during the period of February 2022 and December 2024.
It criticized Russia for violating International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, which guard children against all forms of discrimination, and protect their right to have food, shelter, health, education, and a basic standard of living.
The continuous hostilities by Russia caused disruption of essential services for children, undermining children’s enjoyment of their rights to health, housing, education, family life, and an adequate standard of living, the report stated.
According to the report, “In the four regions of Ukraine that were illegally annexed by the Russian Federation in 2022, children have been particularly affected by violations of international human rights law (IHRL) and international humanitarian law (IHL), including summary executions, arbitrary detention, conflict-related sexual violence, torture, and ill-treatment.”
Read More: EU Backs Stronger Military Support for Ukraine
Russia has adopted “discriminatory policies” in the occupied territory which compelled children to acquire “Russian citizenship, express allegiance to the Russian Federation, and attend schools teaching the Russian state curriculum.”
The curriculum taught to these children justified Russia’s illegal invasion and undermined Ukraine’s cultural identity, the report highlights.
“It is clear that Ukrainian children have endured a wide range of wartime experiences, all with serious impacts – some as refugees in Europe, others as direct victims, under continued threat of bombardment, and many subject to the coercive laws and policies of the Russian authorities in occupied areas,” the UN High Commissioner said.
The report also shed light on the casualties and maintained that at least 669 children were killed and 1,833 injured in Ukraine from 24 February 2022 through 31 December 2024.
Of these, 521 were killed and 1,529 injured in territory controlled by Ukraine, and 148 were killed and 304 injured in occupied territory.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) verified that mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) killed 30 children and injured at least 120 children, since 24 February 2022.
#Ukraine: Death, injury, lasting family separation & other traumatic events have upended children’s lives since Russia launched full-scale invasion – @UNHumanRights report
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) March 21, 2025
The report also discussed the increasing number of Ukrainian children who were forcibly displaced as a result of the conflict.
As of December 2024, an estimated 737,000 children had been internally displaced by the hostilities. A further 1.7 million were refugees, many of them separated from a parent, usually their father.
Read More: Final Russia-Ukraine Peace Agreement Under Discussion: Trump
OHCHR also documented that at least 1,614 attacks had destroyed or damaged educational facilities since the full-scale invasion.
Seventy-one percent of the total attacks that had affected the educational facilities occurred in territory controlled by Ukraine, and 24 percent of attacks occurred in territory occupied by the Russian Federation.
These hostilities hindered children’s enjoyment of their right to education.
The report also recorded a surge in credible allegations that “the Russian Federation used Ukrainian children in Government-controlled territory to conduct surveillance and transmit information on the Ukrainian military, or to commit sabotage and arson targeting military objects or public property with links to the military.”
The United Nations Human Rights Chief, Volker Turk said that the rights of Ukrainian children have been “undermined in every aspect of life, leaving deep scars, both physical and psychosocial.”
Javaria Khalid is a Web Contributor at The Diplomatic Insight Magazine. She specializes in covering geopolitical developments, international relations, diplomatic, and socio-economic developments in Europe and Pakistan.
