UN Report on Child Rights Violations in Ukraine

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has reported a significant increase in serious violations of children's rights in Ukraine due to Russian aggression, once again placing the Russian army on the «shame list».

This information is included in Guterres's annual report titled «Children and Armed Conflict», presented at a UN Security Council meeting by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba.

The largest increase in such violations was recorded in Lebanon (545%), Mozambique (525%), Haiti (490%), and Ethiopia (235%). In Ukraine, the figure stands at 105%.

«I am deeply concerned about the alarming rise in serious violations against children in Ukraine, particularly the killings and maiming of children, as well as attacks on schools and hospitals,» said the Secretary-General in the section dedicated to Ukraine.

During the reporting period (2024–2025), the UN documented the killing of 94 and injury of 577 children. Responsibility for this is «attributed to the Russian armed forces and their affiliated groups,» the report states. Additionally, 559 attacks on schools and 303 on hospitals were recorded.

The document confirms that many Ukrainian children taken to Russia are still unaccounted for.

«I strongly urge the Russian Federation to cooperate with the UN to return Ukrainian children and reunite them with their families and/or guardians,» Guterres noted.

In light of this, the Russian Armed Forces have once again been officially included in the list of state structures that systematically violate children's rights (the so-called «shame list»). This list also includes the DRC, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and several other states and regimes.

Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN, Andriy Melnyk, called on the Security Council to impose sanctions against states and individuals responsible for serious violations of children's rights during armed conflicts.