Ukraine’s acting foreign minister Andriy Sybiha commented on a UNICEF statement regarding reports of children killed and injured as a result of attacks in the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
As the diplomat wrote on the social network X, UNICEF “missed the main point in its 4 August statement: the deaths of all these children are a direct consequence of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. By presenting these casualties without this crucial context, UNICEF creates a false impression of the aggressor and the victim.”
Sybiha’s post also says the UNICEF statement lacks fact-checking. In particular, it does not mention that the casualties in Russia’s Krasnodar were caused by a drone that was reportedly intercepted by Russian air defence. Nor did it verify information about casualties in Ukraine: seven, not three, children from one family were killed in Dnipropetrovsk Region.
“And yesterday Russia killed another innocent Ukrainian child — a three-year-old boy in Kyiv Region. These are Russia’s war crimes. We call on UNICEF to condemn these horrific crimes and insist that Russia stop killing innocent Ukrainian children,” the politician said.
Background
On 4 August, UNICEF published a statement in which it wrote about child casualties in Russia and Ukraine. In particular, it said that “children have once again been killed and injured in attacks in the Russian Federation and across Ukraine,” and reported the death of a 13-year-old girl and injuries to two children aged seven and nine after a drone struck near a playground in Belgorod Region.
It also reported that in Ukraine, “as a result of attacks” over the past seven days at least six children were killed: an eight-year-old boy, as well as at least three children who were killed along with their entire family in Dnipropetrovsk Region, and two girls — aged five and 10 — in Sumy Region. Reports say that over the same period at least 19 children were also injured.