Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian kids who lost loved ones to conflict to address UNSC, says report

A group of Ukrainian children who have survived the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine will be addressing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in New York on Friday (Feb 23), a report by The Guardian said. As per the report, the group includes Kira, aged 14, and Ilya, aged 11- both residents of Mariupol. Following their address at the top UN body headquarters, the children will also pay a visit to Washington.

Narrating her experience about surviving the conflict, Kira told The Guardian that she was waiting for her school bus when she heard explosions. Kira spent about a month sheltering, hiding in houses, and basements after Russian forces started pounding Mariupol. The 14-year-old's father was killed in the conflict, and the family had to leave his body behind as they fled.

Just like Kira, 11-year-old Ilya, and his mother shuttled from place to place across Mariupol in an increasingly desperate search for shelter. The report said that the mother and son first remained at home, then moved to a hotel bunker before trying to return home.

Ilya told the Guardian that his home was destroyed. “I’d lived in that home many years. I loved this house, and this horrible thing had happened. It was really scary,” he said.

The boy was captured by Russian soldiers. The 11-year-old said that one of the soldiers tried to give him a poisoned chocolate, and he ended up in a hospital. The boy was rescued by his grandmother.

Children have been the biggest victims of the Russia-Ukraine war which started on Feb 24, 2022. The conflict will mark its second anniversary on Saturday. According to UNICEF, at least 545 children have been killed, and at least 1,156 children have been injured.

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Earlier this month, a UN committee said that Russia must end the forcible transfer of children from Ukraine and provide information about those already taken. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child pressed Moscow on deportation allegations levelled by Ukraine during a regular review of its record in Jan.

The committee demanded that Moscow provide information about the precise number of children taken from Ukraine and about the whereabouts of each child.