‘A playground, a beach, a home’: UNICEF demands end to child deaths in Russia-Ukraine war

© UNICEF/Oleksii FiliLocal residents wander among debris following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, on 19 July 2026.Tuesday, August 04, 2026UN NewsAs Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, with both sides stepping up airstrikes and drone attacks in recent weeks deep inside each other's territory, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appealed on Tuesday for greater protection for the war’s youngest victims.“Over the past several days, children have again been killed and injured in attacks in the Russian Federation and across Ukraine,” the agency said in a statement urging the parties to comply with international humanitarian law. UNICEF noted that three children were reportedly among seven killed in an attack in Russia’s Krasnodar region on Monday which injured around 40 others. This came a day after a 13-year-old girl was killed, and two other girls aged seven and nine were injured, when a drone struck near a playground in the Belgorod region in the country’s southwest. Right to safetyMeanwhile, at least six children were reportedly killed in attacks in Ukraine in the last seven days. They included an eight-year-old boy, as well as at least three children killed with their entire fami...