United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called out Russia on Thursday June 22, for allegedly killing 136 children in Ukraine in 2022, adding its armed forces to a global list of offenders, according to a report to the U.N. Security Council.
The United Nations also stated that Russian armed forces and affiliated groups maimed 518 children and carried out 480 attacks on schools and hospitals and they also used 91 children as human shields, according to the report.
Russia has denied targeting civilians since it invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
The report also claimed that Ukrainian armed forces killed 80 children, maimed 175 children and carried out 212 attacks on schools and hospitals. The Ukrainian armed forces are not on the global offenders list.
Guterres said in the report that he was “particularly shocked” by the high number of children killed and maimed and attacks on schools and hospitals by Russian armed forces.
He also said he was “particularly disturbed” by the high number of such offenses against children by Ukrainian armed forces.
Guterres’ annual report to the 15-member Security Council on children and armed conflict covers the killing, maiming, sexual abuse, abduction or recruitment of children, denial of aid access and targeting of schools and hospitals.
The report was compiled by Virginia Gamba, Guterres’ special representative for children and armed conflict.
Gamba last month visited Ukraine and Russia, where she met with Russia’s envoy for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova – whom the International Criminal Court has charged on war crimes.
The International Criminal Court also issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin accusing him of illegally deporting children from Ukraine and the unlawful transfer of people to Russia from Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, 2022.
