Tuesday

6th Jun 2023

Russian war crimes? Over 140 children killed in Ukraine

  • Red Cross building in Mariupol was bombed by the Russians, says Ukrainian ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova (Photo: Azov)
Listen to article

The death toll of children in Ukraine continues to mount amid allegations of war crimes perpetrated by Russian forces, Ukraine's ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova has said.

"We have registered 141 children killed during the war," she told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday (29 March).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

But Denisova said the true toll is likely much higher, given the limited access to areas surrounded by the Russians.

This includes Mariupol, a port city almost totally devastated by indiscriminate shelling. A children's hospital and ward are among those buildings levelled in the city.

Denisova estimates some 160,000 people in Mariupol remain trapped due to Russian aggression.

The confirmed death toll among children is concentrated around Kyiv, the city of Kharkiv, and the Donetsk region, she said.

"Our primary activity right now is the gathering of war crimes by the Russian army in the total of Ukraine," said Denisova.

This includes possible acts of genocide in and around Mariupol, use of phosphorus bombs and anti-personnel mines, and Russian soldiers donning Ukrainian army uniforms.

Such evidence is being daily forwarded to the UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet, among others, Denisova said.

As for possible crimes committed by Ukrainian soldiers?

Denisova said her office had no hard evidence of this, amid media queries prompted by a video circulated online in which captured Russian soldiers appeared to be shot in the legs.

Meanwhile, damning accusations against Russia have also been made by Amnesty International, whose secretary general said Moscow was committing war crimes in Mariupol.

The London-based rights organisation said it will soon publish a report on the Mariupol siege covering issues such as "the denial of humanitarian evacuation and humanitarian escape."

The humanitarian corridors have allowed some to escape, but many others have been targeted, sparking fears of even more indiscriminate killings.

Among those trying to secure pathways to safety is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), whose neutral mandate means they also engage with the Russians.

Red Cross

But Ukraine's Denisova said the ICRC had been of little help when it comes to creating corridors to shuffle civilians safely out of Mariupol.

"They either refuse to do that or they agree and then afterwards they do not come to the place where evacuation should start from," she said.

The ICRC denies it.

In an email, they said they had made detailed proposals regarding safe passage and evacuations for civilians to ease the massive suffering taking place in Mariupol.

"We still lack the concrete agreements needed to move forward," David-Pierre Marquet, spokesperson from ICRC said, in an email.

He also refuted suggestions, made elsewhere, that the ICRC had been involved with forced evacuation or forced transfer of civilians into Russia from Mariupol or any other Ukrainian city.

"To be absolutely clear, we would never support any operation that would go against people's will," he said.

Too many Ukrainian refugees in Poland, EU says

EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson in Brussels said efforts need to be made to encourage refugees from Ukraine in Poland to fan out to other member states.

Column

A Habsburg look at Putin

"Of course, communism like it was under Stalin is not going to come back. What will return, however, is national socialism. Not Hitler's, but Putin's." Otto von Habsburg, the son of the last Habsburg emperor, said this back in 2002.

Opinion

How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon

The EU led support for the waste management crisis in Lebanon, spending around €89m between 2004-2017, with at least €30m spent on 16 solid-waste management facilities. However, it failed to deliver.

Latest News

  1. Final steps for EU's due diligence on supply chains law
  2. Top EU court rules Poland's court reforms 'infringe law'
  3. Sweden's far-right is most anti-Green Deal party in EU
  4. Strengthening recovery, resilience and democracy in regions, cities and villages
  5. Why Hungary cannot be permitted to hold EU presidency
  6. Subcontracting rules allow firms to bypass EU labour rights
  7. Asylum and SLAPP positions in focus This WEEK
  8. Spanish PM to delay EU presidency speech due to snap election

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us