Ukraine conflict: Almost 400 children killed or injured

Nearly two thirds of the 7.5 million children in Ukraine have fled their homes since the conflict escalated seven weeks ago, with reports of at least 153 children killed although Save the Children fears the number could be much higher.

Latest data from the United Nations estimates that 2.8 million children are now displaced within Ukraine and another two million have fled to neighbouring countries. This means 64% of children in Ukraine, or 4.8 million, are now on the move.

The UN has been able to verify the deaths of 153 children and recorded 246 injured so far, although the real number is almost certainly much higher. All children in Ukraine are in imminent danger as an increasing number of hospitals and schools come under attack.

In the first five weeks of the war, an average of 22 school were attacked every day. In Mykolaiv last week, a children’s hospital came under attack leaving two girls, aged nine and 15, in critical condition.

In Mariupol and other areas most badly affected by the war, children and families are in grave danger, facing potentially fatal shortages of water, food, and medicines.

Pete Walsh, Save the Children Ukraine Country Director, said:

"Every single death of a child is one too many. These numbers are beyond tragic, and likely to grow. Families are risking their lives in search of safety. Just last week, 39 people including four children were killed at Kramatorsk railway station during an evacuation.

"At Siret border in Romania last week, our staff met a family from Mariupol; a father and five young children. The children were shell-shocked and had been staying in a basement for two weeks, shielding from airstrikes.

"This war is spiralling out of control, leaving children with long-term trauma that cannot be underestimated."