Less than two weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, more than a million children have fled from conflict areas to neighbouring countries, reported Catherine Russell, head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
“This attack, if confirmed, underscores the horrific toll this war is exacting on Ukraine’s children and families. In less than two weeks, at least 37 children have been killed and 50 injured, while more than 1 million children have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries,” Russell said on Wednesday.
The head of UNICEF said she was appalled by reports of a Russian airstrike on a maternity and children’s clinic in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
“The children of Ukraine desperately need peace,” Russell stressed.
I am horrified by the reported attack today on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine – an attack which reportedly left young children and women in labor buried beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings. We do not yet know the number of casualties but fear the worst.
— Catherine Russell (@unicefchief) March 9, 2022