Ukraine: The United Nations fears mounting death toll in children

By Stefan J. Bos

Shocked residents in this city of some one million people watch the aftermath of what authorities said was a Russian air strike.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed outrage that a residential building and the train station were among the damaged sites in Dnipro.

UNICEF said among the several people killed were three children aged 6, 8, and 14.

It added that minors were also part of the reported casualties in a deadly attack in Chernihiv in northern Ukraine earlier this week, "which reportedly damaged a hospital and educational institution."

UNICEF said that the waves of deadly attacks are intensifying across the country and that children continue to pay the highest price for this war.
The agency stressed the United Nations estimates that at least close to 2,000 children have been killed and injured since the escalation of the war two years ago.

Figure higher

However, UNICEF acknowledged that the figure is likely higher as the number only includes the United Nations' verified reports.

As he visited the city of Dnipro, hit by the latest Russian air strike, Ukrainian President Zelensky said that Ukraine's allies should rush in more air defenses to his wartorn nation.

Zelensky added that Russian missiles also struck the Black Sea port of Pivdennyi in the southern Odesa region on Friday afternoon, destroying grain storage facilities and the food inside.

Yet despite a lack of air defenses, Kyiv claimed its military shot down the Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber from a distance of 308 kilometers or 191 miles after it took part in the long-range deadly airstrike that struck Dnipro.

Moscow maintained the aircraft suffered a technical malfunction when it came down in Russia's southern Stavropol region.

Authorities said four aircrews ejected, with one dead, two rescued, and another missing. Russia acknowledged, however, that it came under attack from dozens of Ukrainian drones Friday night and into Saturday morning, including over the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Tula, Smolensk, Ryazan, Kaluga, and Moscow regions.

Facilities hit

Various reports suggested Ukraine mounted a wave of attacks on Russian electrical and petrochemical facilities.

One of the attacks left an oil facility burning in Kardymovo – about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Russian officials claimed Ukrainian drones also attacked an electrical substation in Bryansk oblast, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) inside Russia.

Moscow said all the drones were shot down, and local authorities said falling debris caused the damage, but those claims were complex to verify independently.

And with the war ongoing, so does the suffering, including in Dnipro.