Statement by Deputy Permanent Representative Maria Zabolotskaya at UNSC Open Debate on Children in Armed Conflict
Madam President,
We thank Ms. Frazier, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, as well as civil society representatives for their contributions to the discussion.
The situation of children in armed conflicts around the world continues to worsen. For the third consecutive year, the grim ranking of violations against children has been topped by the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Children continue to be victimized in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, even despite the declared ceasefire. Since October 2025, 265 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza alone. In other words, one child has died every day for more than eight months. Over 400 children have been injured, and many of them are unlikely to fully recover. Hundreds need urgent medical evacuation. More than 600,000 school-age children remain without regular access to in-person education. Approximately 93% of school buildings require either complete reconstruction or major repairs.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, since March 2, 247 minors have been killed and nearly 1,000 have been injured over the course of over 100 days of escalation. This means 12 boys and girls are killed or maimed every single day. And it is indeed alarming that in Lebanon, as in Gaza, all this is happening precisely when a ceasefire is formally declared.
The escalation in the Middle East this year has also taken a heavy toll on Iranian children. We mourn the victims of the tragedy in Minab and all others who have perished as a result of US-Israeli aggression. We hope that the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran will facilitate achieving lasting and long-term stabilization in the Middle East.
Madam President,
Regrettably, the subject of children in armed conflict has become politicized and is exploited for media speculations.
For example, the UN Secretary-General’s report will not tell you that Russian children are falling victim to Ukrainian attacks almost daily. The Secretary-General attributes to Ukraine only nine cases of grievous bodily harm to children and three child fatalities.
Meanwhile, in the past week alone, from June 15 to June 21, 291 civilians suffered from attacks by the Ukrainian army: 250 were wounded, including 20 children, and 41 were killed, including one child. This is the highest weekly toll recorded since the beginning of 2026.
Let me cite just a few examples.
On June 15, a one-year-old child was injured in Tula as a result of an attack on residential buildings.
On June 17, the Bryansk Region witnessed a tragedy involving members of a football team from the Gomel Region of the Republic of Belarus. A Ukrainian drone struck a bus carrying child players going on vacation. There were 44 people on board, including 28 children. The woman accompanying the team was killed, and eight people, including six minors, were injured.
On June 18, in the village of Churovichi in the Klimovsky District of the Bryansk Region, a kamikaze drone attacked a car carrying a mother and her two daughters, aged 10 and 11. Both girls were injured and hospitalized. One of them remains in serious condition.
On that same day, an 8-year-old girl died in a fire caused by a drone attack in Ramenskoye, Moscow Region. The following day, a drone struck the grounds of the central district hospital in the city of Vasilyevka in the Zaporozhye Region, damaging the windows of the children’s clinic.
The Ukrainian armed forces carry out systematic attacks on schools and hospitals. Since this information is absent from the report, I will provide a few more examples.
On January 24, 2026, in the Kherson Region, near the town of Golaya Pristan, Ukraine delivered a drone strike targeting an ambulance belonging to the Alyoshki Hospital. Three medical workers were killed. In Kakhovka, the Ukrainian troops hit a polyclinic building.
On February 11, 2026, in the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), five people were wounded as a result of drone strikes in the Svatovo District. A Ukrainian kamikaze drone attacked an ambulance vehicle as the medical team was returning from a call.
On February 22, 2026, in the Bryansk Region, Ukrainian forces launched an FPV drone attack against the village of Ponurovka in the Starodubsky Municipal District, targeting inter alia a paramedic and obstetric station.
On February 23, 2026, in the Zaporozhye Region, the Ukrainian army launched an attack in the immediate vicinity of the Dneprorudnoye District Hospital. As a result of the drone strike, an ambulance was damaged in the village of Vodyanoye while en route to an emergency call.
On March 5, 2026, in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), an ambulance vehicle was damaged as a result of a UAV strike.
On March 8, 2026, in the Belgorod Region, a Ukrainian kamikaze drone deliberately targeted an ambulance vehicle in the village of Zamostye.
On March 10, 2026, in the DPR, the Ukrainian army attacked a hospital using four UAVs, with more than 130 patients and about 50 medical staff members inside at the time of the strike. The attack killed eight people and injured 10 others, and caused the hospital building to collapse.
On March 10, 2026, in the Kherson Region, two Ukrainian drones targeted the Gornostaevka Central District Hospital in the village of Krasnaya Polyana.
On March 16, 2026, in the Zaporozhye Region, Ukrainian forces attacked the Vasilyevka District Hospital. The facility was hit by five targeted strikes, which were followed by attempts to attack emergency services dealing with the evacuation of people and cleanup.
On March 16, 2026, in the Kherson Region, a drone-dropped munition damaged an ambulance vehicle in Novaya Kakhovka. Three members of the medical crew and a patient were injured.
On March 18, 2026, in Krasnodar Krai, Ukrainian drones struck apartment buildings in the city of Krasnodar. Debris from the intercepted UAVs fell on a medical center.
On March 24, 2026, in the Zaporozhye Region, the Ukrainian army attacked an ambulance vehicle and a civilian healthcare facility in the Vasilyevka Municipal District. One building was attacked by a UAV equipped with a strike payload.
On March 26, 2026, in the Kherson Region, a Ukrainian drone attacked the grounds of the Kakhovka Central District Hospital.
On March 31, 2026, in the Zaporozhye Region, the grounds of the Vasilyevka Central Hospital came under fire from the Ukrainian forces, and an ambulance carrying a medical team was attacked.
On April 6, 2026, in the Belgorod Region, a Ukrainian drone damaged an ambulance.
On April 10, 2026, in the Zaporozhye Region, the roof of the emergency admission room building at the Kamensko-Dneprovskaya Central District Hospital was damaged as a result of an attack by the Ukrainian army.
On April 13, 2026, in the Kursk Region, the Ukrainian forces attacked an ambulance.
On April 19, 2026, in the Kherson Region, another ambulance was attacked by Ukrainian troops.
On April 26, 2026, in Sevastopol, a Ukrainian drone attack damaged a city hospital.
On April 28, 2026, in the Zaporozhye Region, the central hospital was damaged as a result of a strike by the Ukrainian army.
On May 9, 2026, in the Belgorod Region, three ambulance personnel were wounded as a result of an attack by the Ukrainian forces.
On May 11, 2026, in the Belgorod Region, Ukrainian forces targeted another ambulance vehicle, injuring three crew members.
We expect that all of this data will be reflected in the 2026 report.
Madam President,
We have not heard a word of condemnation from the United Nations regarding the cynical attack targeting the dormitory of the Pedagogical College in Starobelsk, in which children and young people who were training to become teachers were killed. A month has already gone by, and the Internet is rife with footage from the scene of the incident, which was visited by the ICRC.
On June 6, we submitted documentary evidence concerning this terrorist attack to the Secretariat via the Information Center in Moscow; this included eyewitness testimonies. We did this as part of the verification process and are ready at any time to organize a visit by an authorized UN delegation to the site of the tragedy. We expect the Secretary-General and all official bodies to properly react to the materials received, and we expect Council members to condemn the criminal actions of Kiev and its accomplices.
In this regard, we would like to recall Resolution 2601, adopted by consensus on October 29, 2021, which strongly condemns attacks and threats of attacks targeting schools. Ukraine is among its co-sponsors, as are its backers, the United Kingdom, Greece, Denmark, and France. We would like to draw the attention of these countries to the fact that, since 2014, the Kiev regime has attacked 2,116 educational institutions, including kindergartens, schools, and colleges. This is the reality that you choose not to acknowledge.
Madam President,
Time and again, Ukrainian forces target residential buildings, schools, kindergartens, playgrounds, hospitals, markets, bus stops, and civilian vehicles. These actions are not meant to achieve a military advantage, but rather to terrorize the civilian population. This tactic indicates that the Kiev regime, which is suffering defeat after defeat on the battlefield, is increasingly resorting to terrorist methods of warfare.
The drones used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to commit these crimes are manufactured with the direct involvement of European countries. For example, a few days ago, the German transnational corporation Hensoldt openly announced its cooperation with Ukrainian manufacturers. Notably, this is a company with a long history. Among other things, it supplied equipment to the Wehrmacht during World War II. Just a few days ago, Paris hosted Eurosatory 2026, the world’s largest arms exhibition, where the very same drones used to kill children in Russia were displayed. The exhibition featured discussions on achieving the target of €800 billion in investments for the remilitarization of Europe and support for Ukraine's military efforts. Thus, European countries are complicit in the killing of children in Russia.
Madam President,
The actions of the Ukrainian armed forces constitute a pattern of behavior that warrants the inclusion of government forces in the annex to the Secretary-General’s report. Yet, this decision has still not been taken.
I would like to stress here that in 2025 (which is the period covered by the report before us today) at least 293 minors were affected by criminal acts committed by the Ukrainian side: 22 of them were killed, and another 271 were wounded. The youngest victim was barely three months old.
Against this backdrop, the Secretary-General has been lavishing praise on the Ukrainian government solely because it signed a nominal joint plan of action with the World Health Organization. This is, evidently, one of the weaknesses of the mandate, which requires careful reconsideration.
The lack of a response to Kiev’s crimes only breeds impunity – the very impunity that every political declaration on the matter calls for combating.
Madam President,
Russia has always been and remains open to engagement on child-related issues with all constructively minded international actors. We are convinced that Ms. Frazier’s recent visit to our country will mark a turning point in fostering a balanced, professional, and objective approach to covering the Ukrainian crisis and reflecting the true picture of violations occurring in its context.
The incidents attributed to Russia in the report originate from the Kiev-based branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which is notorious for its bias and, in essence, operates under the control of the Kiev authorities. This information is being reproduced in the press and on social media, creating a distorted picture of the crisis. This skewed version of reality pictured in UN reporting is hindering a peaceful settlement.
In this regard, I would like to point out that one member of the Council has chosen to repeat the well-worn falsehood about the deportation of Ukrainian children. Everyone in this chamber knows that this allegation is nothing but mendacious. All UN entities are aware that this is a mere lie. Everyone says this off the record. Russia is waiting for someone to be the first to say this when the microphone is on.
Madam President,
In Russia, assistance to children affected by conflict is provided by Maria Lvova-Belova, the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights. But currently, she is facing pressure in the form of an unfounded arrest warrant issued by a pseudo-judicial body, namely the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Nevertheless, the Russian institution of children’s rights commissioners is functioning successfully despite external pressure, at both the federal and regional levels.
In border regions (for example, in the Belgorod Region), citizens’ concerns have shifted to restoring infrastructure. The key challenge here is organizing remote learning for children. Parents are asking for reliable devices and Internet access. In response, students are being provided with tablet computers, and protective blast-resistant film is being installed on the windows of schools that remain operational.
Another important aspect – one that is crucial in an educational context but often overlooked by the UN – is training adults to work with children affected by conflict. Russia is actively working on this matter. St. Petersburg State University has launched a continuing education program that has already been completed by 100 experts from 26 regions. There is a series of webinars entitled “Adolescents in Conflict Zones” and an online seminar on “Current Issues in Supporting Minors Exposed to Severe Stress”. The month of May saw the launch of the open educational program “The Day After Tomorrow,” which is a course created by the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in collaboration with the “Country for Children” Charitable Foundation and Moscow State University of Psychology and Education.
Russia is capable of meeting the humanitarian needs of its population on its own, while developing countries are compelled to rely on humanitarian support from external donors.
Yet, the humanitarian agenda is increasingly becoming hostage to politicization and distorted UN statistics. As a result, for several years now we have been observing a glaring disparity in the amount of funds allocated to Ukraine, on the one hand, and to Africa, the Middle East, and other regions, on the other.
As a result, these countries continue to face ever-deepening chronic underfunding, including in such vital areas as healthcare and education. Education, in general, has traditionally remained one of the least-funded humanitarian sectors.
Let me provide a specific example. According to OCHA data for the current year, the education component of the humanitarian appeal for Haiti is funded at only 10%. And this is a country where hundreds of thousands of children are effectively deprived of access to education (as we have heard today) due to the destruction of schools, violence by armed groups, and mass displacement. Yet, the corresponding figure for Ukraine is 50%.
This is a vivid illustration of how donors are guided not by the principle of humanity, but by their own political preferences.
Depoliticizing the children’s agenda – and the humanitarian agenda as a whole – must become one of the priorities of the next UN Secretary-General. Without significant progress in this area, we will not make headway in protecting children.
Thank you.
