The russian state despises even its own citizens so much that they do not understand the value of human life. As a result, russian soldiers kill and die as if they were not people but just dust.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced this in his video address.
"Every year on 1 June, we celebrate Children's Day. A special day when adults pay particular attention to children's rights, safety, and development. But since 24 February 2022, everything has changed in our country. And literally, every day now is a day of protection for us. Protection of all our people, children, and our future. Protection of a free country, where all children can live the life they want when they grow up. Without coercion and oppression," - said the President of Ukraine.
He added that our life principles are entirely different from the russian ones. And although life has changed with war, our principles remain the same. Everyone matters. This is the main thing that makes us different from the occupiers.
Zelenskyy said that during the 98 days of the russian invasion, 689 children were injured in the occupiers' attacks, and these are only those we are aware of. Ukraine does not yet have all the information from the occupied territories, but from what we know, 446 children were injured, and 243 children died. Another 139 went missing.
The President spoke about the children russians killed:
Denys was from the Zhytomyr region, from the village of Malynivka; he died with his family when a russian aircraft dropped bombs on the village. Denys was less than two years old.
Stepan was from the village of Novi Petryvtsi in the Kyiv region. He was less than three years old when a russian shell hit the yard of his house. The boy was fatally wounded.
Ania was from Bucha in the Kyiv region; she was 14 years old. She died when the russian militaries fired rounds on a minibus on the road. People were just trying to escape. Ania was in that minibus with her mother and grandmother. They all died.
Polina was not even two years old. A russian tank hit a house in Borodianka. An ordinary house. Direct targeting. Polina died.
Arina was from the Mykolaiv region. On 5 March 2022, she received shrapnel wounds due to artillery shelling; the occupiers were targeting a common residential area. She died at the hospital. Now, in June, Arina could celebrate her 4th birthday.
Sviatoslav was from Odesa; he was 15 years old. Russian missile killed him by hitting a dormitory. It happened on 2 May 2022. His body was retrieved from the rubble of the building.
Alica was from Okhtyrka, in the Sumy region. The child was seven years old. She died on the second day of a full-scale war due to russian artillery shelling. The occupiers were simply shelling the residential building.
Mykyta was from the city of Izium in the Kharkiv region. He was three years old. At night, on 3 March 2022, russian airstrike targeting the city killed him. Nine people died that night.
Two sisters - Varvara and Polina were from Mariupol. Varvara was 14 years old, and Polina was 11. They died because the russians shelled an apartment building.
Zelenskyy noted that about 12 million of our citizens were forced to leave their homes due to the war. More than 5 million left for other countries; the vast majority are women with children.
"Russia is conducting a consistent criminal policy of deportation of our people, moving by force both adults and children. This is one of russia's most heinous war crimes. In total, more than 200,000 Ukrainian children have been deported so far. These are orphans from orphanages. And children with parents. And children separated from their families," said the President of Ukraine, adding that russia is settling our citizens in remote regions so that deportees forget about Ukraine and cannot return.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed two new decrees on awarding our heroes. Three hundred eighty militaries received awards. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, 17 thousand 86 defenders of Ukraine have received orders and other awards.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a video conference with students of the Drohobych Lyceum, where children from different Ukraine regions study and children who moved to Poland due to the war.