Russian Forces Killed 349 Children Since Ukraine's Full-Scale Invasion Began

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to the deaths of nearly 349 children in the country as of Thursday, the Prosecutor General's Office posted on Telegram.

Ukraine blamed Russian forces for the casualties. "More than a thousand children have been affected in Ukraine as a result of the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation. As of the morning of July 14, 2022, the official number of children killed did not change over the past day: 349. The data on the children injured – 652 – did not change as well," the statement said.

However, the figure could change after areas of active hostilities, temporarily occupied regions and liberated territories are taken into consideration.

Most children affected because of the war were from Donetsk region – 352. The others included Kharkiv region – 190, Kyiv region – 116, Chernihiv region – 68, Luhansk region – 61, Mykolaiv region – 53, Kherson region – 52 and the Zaporizhzhia region – 31, Ukrinform reported.

More than 2,000 educational institutions were damaged due to bombing and shelling by the armed forces of the Russian Federation. Russian forces have repeatedly been accused of attacking civilian targets in Ukraine, such as schools, hospitals and residential areas. They have also been accused of torturing and killing the civilian population since launching the offensive on Feb. 24. Russia, however, denied it was targeting civilians.

In April, a Russian soldier revealed in an intercepted call his country's forces were killing civilians and children in Ukraine. However, his family dismissed the claims and tried to convince him they were killing "Nazis," Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said in a statement at the time.

"No, you do not kill civilians and children... You kill the Nazis, f----, believe me!" the mother said in a 28-second clip of the conversation released by the SBU. "Son, don't lose your fighting spirit... You know you're doing a great job," she added.

Most recently, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said three Russian missiles dropped into the heart of the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia Thursday, killing 12 people including a small child. At least 25 people were injured in the attack. National police chief Ihor Klymenko said the missiles hit an office block and damaged nearby residential buildings.

Photo: AFP / ARIS MESSINIS