In the six weeks since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, about two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes according to the statement issued by the United Nations' (UN) children’s agency. The UN states that 142 children have been killed and 229 were injured as verified, though these numbers and these are expected to rise higher. The UN agency shared this on Monday, April 11.
On Monday, Director of UNICEF's emergency programmes, Manuel Fontaine, informed the UN Security Council that approximately 3.2 million children have remained in their home "nearly half of them may be at the risk of not having enough food". An estimated 1.4 million people in the country were left without access to water due to the attacks on the water system infrastructure and power outages, as stated in a report by Associated Press (AP).
Fontaine also stated that the situation in southern cities like Mariupol and Kherson, which have been seized by the Russian forces, was considered to be worse as the children and their families had spent weeks without access to water, proper sanitation or a regular supply of food.
“Hundreds of schools and educational facilities have been attacked or used for military purposes,” Fontaine said.
“Others are serving as shelters for civilians,” he said.
Fontaine also expressed that the education of 5.7 million school-age children and 1.5 million students in higher education has been affected due to the closure of schools.
