Ukraine children executed by Russia, says UN, amid other suffering including torture

Russia inflicted unimaginable suffering on millions of Ukrainian children and violated their rights since its full scale invasion of Ukraine begun in 2022, a new report by the United Nations Human Rights Office said on Friday.

“Their rights have been undermined in every aspect of life, leaving deep scars, both physical and psychosocial,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk.

The Russian Mission in Geneva did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by Reuters.

“In the four regions of Ukraine that were illegally annexed by the Russian Federation in 2022, children have been particularly affected by violations of international human rights law … including summary executions, arbitrary detention, conflict-related sexual violence, torture and ill-treatment”, the report said.

Five boys and two girls were summarily executed in 2022 and 2023, with the report noting that the wilful killing of civilians was a war crime and a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions.

Some children had to take part in military-patriotic training, including singing the Russian anthem, and to follow the Russian school curriculum – in violation of international humanitarian law.