Zelenskyy says Russia abducted over 2,00,000 Ukrainian children since invasion started

Russia has abducted nearly 2,00,000 children since it commenced invasion of Ukraine, stated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. While addressing the Ukraine Accountability Conference in The Hague, Netherlands, Zelenskyy said, “It is still being established how many children Russian forces abducted and took out of Ukraine... The preliminary figure is dreadful - about two hundred thousand children,” as per a statement released from the Presidential Office of Ukraine. 

The Ukrainian President further said, “I am grateful to you for honouring the memory of the victims of Russian aggression with me... Because every day, every day, our people die, children die.” He added that tens of thousands of Ukrainians were slain, tortured, and injured as a result of Russia’s invasion. The war forced millions of people into homelessness or deportation to Russia, he noted.  

Slmaming Russia, he sated, “The world sees Russian missile terror. Literally live, everyone can see Russian artillery burning down cities in Donbas and destroying civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv and in the south of our country,” as per a statement. He also stated that the Ukrainian law enforcement services have only recorded 34,039 crimes relating to Russian aggression.

Notable, the seminar was held in conjunction with Ukraine's efforts to coordinate investigations into suspected war crimes perpetrated by Russian soldiers. 

349 Ukrainian children lost their lives in the Russia-Ukraine war

As of the morning of July 14, nearly 349 children in Ukraine have lost their lives due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine in Telegram revealed that the full-scale armed attack of the Russian Federation has impacted over a thousand children in Ukraine. Roughly, 652 Ukrainian children have been injured during the war.  

On July 14, a Russian missile strike on Vinnytsia's city centre resulted in the deaths of eight people, including a child. The Ukrainian leader called strike by the Russian military in Vinnytsia an "an open act of terrorism" against civilians. Zelenskyy in a Telegram message blamed Russian forces for attacking people in areas "where there are no military (targets)".

7,200 missing Ukrainian service personnel held captive by Russia

Sccording to a senior Ukrainian official, the majority of the 7,200 missing Ukrainian service personnel are being taken captive by Russian forces. In an interview with Ukraine's Suspilne TV station, Oleh Kotenko, the Commissioner on Persons Gone Missing under Special Circumstances, stated that those missing included members of the military forces, security agencies, national guards, and border guards, The Guardian reported.  

(Image: AP)