Russia is intentionally targeting Ukrainian children as an act of war

Children play in a playground in front of missile-damaged buildings ahead of a visit by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

By Dr. Irwin Redlener

It is increasingly difficult to determine how many Ukrainian children have been killed, injured, or severely traumatized by Russia’s brutality since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The latest formal reports from United Nations agencies suggest that some 500 children have been killed and more than 800 severely injured as collateral casualties of the war.  

Actually, as we have just learned, the reality is that the number of children murdered is likely to be far higher. It has just been reported that Russian stormtroopers, including hardcore convicts recruited by the Wagner Group, Putin’s mercenary force, have been killing children and other civilians in the territories they occupy in Eastern Ukraine. 


As seen in The Hill