UN reports rising crimes against Ukraine’s children
UN Secretary-General António Guterres (Photo: Getty Images)
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is recording a rise in crimes against children worldwide, with a particular increase in the number of such crimes in Ukraine, states UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba.
Gamba presented the UN Secretary-General’s annual report, Children and Armed Conflict. The report documents a significant rise in grave violations of children's rights in conflict zones during 2024–2025.
According to UN data, crimes against children in Ukraine increased by 105% compared to the previous reporting period. The highest surges in such violations were recorded in Lebanon (545%), Mozambique (525%), Haiti (490%), and Ethiopia (235%).
“I am concerned by the increase in the recruitment and use and the killing and maiming of children, cases of sexual violence against children and attacks on schools and hospitals,” Guterres said regarding the situation in Ukraine.
In 2024–2025, the UN documented the killing of 94 and the injury of 577 children. Responsibility for these violations is attributed to the Russian armed forces and affiliated groups. The report also recorded 559 attacks on schools and 303 attacks on hospitals.
The document confirms that many Ukrainian children deported to Russia are still unaccounted for.
The UN Secretary-General has once again included the Russian Armed Forces in the list of government forces that violate children's rights - the so-called list of shame.
According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, over 2,500 children have been affected by hostilities and shelling since the beginning of the full-scale war, with 630 confirmed dead.
