At least 485 children have been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The latest figures only account for deaths officially registered by authorities, with the real statistic likely to be much higher.
In a video address on Sunday evening, Zelenskyy said that another 19,500 children had been forcibly deported to Russia from occupied Ukrainian territories.
The Ukrainian leader lamented that only 370 children were successfully repatriated from Russia.
Russia first launched its invasion of Ukraine over a year ago, and now forcibly occupies 20% of its territory. In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights.
According to the court, President Putin is “responsible for the illegal deportation of populations (children) and the illegal transfer of populations from the occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”
Under the Rome Statue, the deportations constitute a war crime, the ICC says. Arrest warrants for Putin still remain active.
