Ukraine: UNICEF chief urges greater protection for children ‘caught in this nightmare’ as war is "taking a terrible toll on children’s mental health"
Ukraine: UNICEF chief urges greater protection for children ‘caught in this nightmare’ as war is "taking a terrible toll on children’s mental health"
The plight of children impacted by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was the focus of debate in the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
Due to the continual risks of attacks, children in some areas of the country are now sheltering up to six hours a day sheltering in basements and other damp dark spaces, said Catherine Russell, head of UN child rights agency, UNICEF.
At least 2,406 boys and girls have been killed or injured since the war began in February 2022 - an average of two a day, according to UN verified numbers, though the true figure is likely far higher.
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"Some parts of Ukraine are experiencing power outages for 18 hours a day. As a result, many children in Ukraine are left without essentials such as heating, safe water and sanitation,” she said.
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The war is also taking a terrible toll on children’s mental health and robbing them of their childhood, she continued.
"Children are impacted by the constant threat and fear of attacks or violence, the loss of loved ones, the separation of families due to displacement, and the disruption of education – including isolation due to long-term online learning,” she said.
As the war continues, UNICEF and partners are working tireless to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of children and families. This includes working with municipalities to keep heating systems operational throughout the winter.
Although they are doing their utmost, Ms. Russell stressed the need for more action.
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As UNICEF remains deeply concerned about the number of children who have been separated from their families, Ms. Russell urged parties to prioritize family tracing and reunification, and refrain from taking any actions that would alter a child’s nationality or make it more difficult for them to be reunified.
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How Russia prepares children in occupied Ukraine to fight against their own country
Russia is using a militaristic youth organization, Yunarmia, to foster the loyalty of teenagers in occupied parts of Ukraine and prepare them to fight in Moscow's war against their native country [...]
Russia opened the first Yunarmia branch in the occupied territories of Ukraine in Crimea months after the organisation's official formation. By September 2016, Yunarmia had spread across the Black Sea peninsula, according to Oleh Okhredko, an analyst at the Almenda Center Of Civic Education, a Ukrainian group whose activities include documenting violations of the rights of children in wartime [...]
In 2014, Russia occupied Crimea and fomented war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine – the Donbas [...]
Yunarmia "was created with the specific idea of the militarised reeducation of not only Russian [children] but also Ukrainian children from the occupied territories," said Kateryna Rashevska, a lawyer at the Regional Center for Human Rights, which was forced to move from Crimea to Kyiv after the Russian occupation.
By January 2022, a month before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Yunarmia had 29,000 members in Crimea alone, according to the Russian Defence Ministry [...]