KYIV, 25 August 2026 – At least 16 people were killed
and more than 140 injured, including 23 children, in an
attack by the Russian Armed Forces on a shopping centre in
Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region on 21 August. Another
strike on Mykolaiv on the same day reportedly killed 3
children, as child casualties continue at levels not seen in
more than four years.
The latest attacks come after
July recorded the highest monthly number of child casualties
in Ukraine since April 2022. Seventeen children were killed
and 166 injured in July, according to UN
Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine – a 49 per
cent increase from the previous month.
“Children are
being killed and injured in their homes, in their
playgrounds, and in their communities. Schools and hospitals
are being hit. Far too many young lives have been cut short
or forever changed. This is unacceptable. Children need
peace,” said UNICEF Representative to Ukraine, Anne-Claire
Dufay.
Since the escalation of the war in February
2022, the UN has verified 3,946 children killed or injured
in Ukraine, with the actual number likely to be higher.
UNICEF and partners are providing emergency assistance to
children and families affected by the war, including mental
health and psychosocial support, and are rehabilitating
school shelters so children can continue in-person learning
as the school year starts.
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UNICEF is calling for an
end to attacks that kill and injure all children in this
war, for full compliance with international humanitarian
law, including the protection of children and the civilian
infrastructure they depend
on.
Notes:
Data on child
casualties is from the latest
Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Report of the
United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in
Ukraine, which contains UN-verified data as of end-July
2026.
