Russia’s assault on Ukraine has driven more than half the country’s children from their homes, the UN children’s agency said on Thursday, calling it one of the largest displacements of children since World War II.
Some 4.3 million Ukrainian children from a total estimated child population of 7.5 million have been displaced by the one-month-old conflict, Unicef said. This includes 1.8 million children who have taken refuge in neighbouring countries and more than 2.5 million who are in temporary shelter within the country.
UN monitors in Ukraine have reported that 81 children have been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion and 104 have been injured. But they emphasise their assessment of civilian casualties is conservative and that the real toll in civilian life will be much higher.
“This is a grim milestone that could have lasting consequences for generations to come,” Catherine Russell, Unicef’s director, said in a statement. “Children’s safety, well-being and access to essential services are all under threat from non-stop horrific violence.”
The World Health Organisation has recorded 64 attacks on health care facilities in the conflict, its director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday, adding that it was in the process of verifying reports of further attacks.
The UN says an estimated 1.4 million people in Ukraine lack access to safe water and 4.6 million people either have limited access to water or are at risk of being cut off. It also reports that over 450,000 children between the ages of 6 months and 23 months need complementary food support.
The UN Population Fund, a leading provider of reproductive health care services, said it had shipped more than 13 metric tons of supplies, medicines and equipment into Ukraine. The agency said the shipments help cover the immediate reproductive health needs for 500,000 people. At the start of the war, there were an estimated 256,000 pregnant women in Ukraine with 80,000 expected to give birth in the next three months, it said.
New York Times News Service
