The United Nations has added Russia’s armed forces to a global list of perpetrators, confirming that Russian forces and associated groups killed 136 children in Ukraine last year, according to a report presented to the UN Security Council, cited by Sky News.

The UN also confirmed that Russian forces maimed 518 children and carried out 480 attacks on schools and hospitals. 91 children were used as human shields, the report said.

Russian forces and “affiliated” armed groups that have killed dozens of children in Ukraine are now on a UN “list of shame” for children’s rights in the conflict, according to a copy of a forthcoming report seen by AFP on Thursday.

The annual report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lists violations of children’s rights in some twenty conflict zones around the world and lists those responsible for these violations, including children killed and maimed, recruitment, abduction and sexual abuse.

The Russian armed forces and “affiliated armed formations”, which are not specified in the text, were added to this list, which was called the “list of shame” for 2022, in particular because of the number of dead and injured children and attacks on hospitals and schools from Ukraine.

“I am particularly shocked by the large number of attacks on schools, hospitals and security personnel, as well as the large number of deaths and injuries of children attributed to Russian forces and affiliated armed groups,” António Guterres said in a document aimed at 2022 and to be published on Tuesday

The report, which was circulated to members of the Security Council on Thursday, however, noted that Russian authorities had held talks with the UN on the issues and called on them to “immediately fulfill their obligations to protect children, including by rejecting the military use of schools and hospital”.

“I am alarmed by the large number of serious violations committed against children in Ukraine after the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation,” said Major General Antonio Guterres.

The UN confirmed that 477 children were killed in Ukraine in 2022, of which 136 deaths were attributed to Russian forces and affiliated groups and 80 to the Ukrainian armed forces, as well as 909 cases of child mutilation, of which 518 were attributed to Russian forces and affiliated groups and 175 Ukrainian

The UN also listed 461 attacks on schools and 290 on hospitals, bringing the total to 751, two-thirds of which were attributed to Russian forces and related groups.

Ukraine and Israel are not on the list

Despite the fact that the Ukrainian armed forces are not included in the “list of shame”, the report cautioned Kyiv “due to the number of killed and maimed children and attacks on schools and hospitals”.

“I will pay special attention to this situation in my next report,” warns the Secretary General.

“By adding Russia to his list of infamy, the secretary general is holding it responsible for horrific violations of children’s rights,” said Joe Becker of Human Rights Watch, but criticized the absence of Israel.

“The (UN Secretary General’s) unwillingness to hold Israel accountable year after year for gross violations of children’s rights has made it impossible to hold Israel accountable.

A new scandal?

An Amnesty International report leaked to the New York Times last August sparked outrage in Ukraine because it said “many or most of the war’s civilian casualties resulted from Ukraine’s decision to deploy forces near civilians” at a time when Russian forces were deliberately targeting civilians.

Among those who condemned the report was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, who accused Amnesty of “shifting responsibility from the aggressor to the victim.”

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