"The lives of 6.3 million Ukrainian children are increasingly at risk as they are either trapped or displaced within their country or refugees in hosting countries," the spokesman of UNICEF Italia Andrea Iacomini said in a statement released on Sunday (August 13). "It is important to remember such figures because there are 2.2 million children who need aid in countries hosting refugees," added Iacomini, noting that "nearly two-thirds of children have been forced to flee their homes."

Some are on their own and thus more exposed to "abuse, abduction, sexual exploitation and human trafficking," he said.

'4.1 million children need urgent humanitarian assistance'

Iacomini's statement highlighted that civilian infrastructures in Ukraine have been decimated by attacks, including hospitals, maternity centres, pediatric wards, schools and orphanages, homes and shelters.

"Over 1,000 healthcare facilities have been damaged or destroyed by bombings," said Iacomini. "The fact that 17.6 million people need immediate humanitarian assistance within the country raises great concern: 4.1 million are children under the age of 18.

"Children can't continue to suffer like this. It's like reliving the nightmare of the war in Syria with thousands of children dead and millions displaced. We hope that the winds of peace will arrive as soon as possible," concluded the spokesperson.

More than 500 children dead

According to official information provided by local judicial authorities for minors, as of the morning of August 13, 2023, 500 children have been confirmed dead and over 1,097 wounded in the war in Ukraine. These figures were published on Telegram by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office and confirmed by UNICEF.

"We have been denouncing for days the death of children who are victims of the conflict in Ukraine," stressed Iacomini, adding that "the real number of victims among children is probably much higher."

Iacomini highlighted that it is necessary to add to these numbers "all those who run the serious risk of dying or of being maimed when weapons and explosives are used in populated areas."

Authorities in Donetsk ready to use force to evacuate 388 children

The authorities of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, have meanwhile said that they are ready to use force to evacuate from the region's hardest hit areas some 388 children and their parents, if the latter will be unwilling to leave their homes. The announcement was made on Monday, August 14, via Telegram by the head of the regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko.

"As far as the children who have remained are concerned, only the parents take decisions regarding them. But if we understand that, unfortunately, the parents will not decide (to evacuate), the regional commission for technological and environmental safety and situations of emergency will decide based on the Council of ministers' choice to forcibly evacuate children with their parents."

"There are 388 such children in parts of the districts of Bakhmut and Kramatorsk," stated Kyrylenko. All children coming from adoptive families have already been taken to safer regions of the country, he added.