Ukrainian refugee children.Photo: Marcus Brandt/picture alliance via Getty
In a speech delivered via video Tuesday to Italy’s Parliament, Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyytold lawmakers the rising deaths of117 childrenin the war with Russia are the “price of procrastination,“according to reports.
“We need more sanctions, more pressure,” thepresident said, “so that Russia looks for peace.”
While accurate figures on the dead and wounded are fluid and hard to verify, the United Nations released its latest report Monday on the number ofrecorded civilian casualtiesin the fighting that began Feb. 24, stating that “actual figures are considerably higher.”
Of the 2,421 civilian casualties, 925 have been killed, including 75 children, according to the most recent U.N. estimate. Another 1,496, including99 children, have been injured.
The information is difficult verify, the U.N. added, because of challenges in receiving “information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.”
Refugees fleeing Ukraine board a train to Budapest at the Zahony train station on March 7 in Zahony, Hungary.Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
The report cites “allegations of numerous civilian casualties” in places like the besieged city of Mariupol, where residents have resorted toburying the dead in a mass graveon the outskirts of town, that are not easily corroborated because of ongoing violence and limited access.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilian sites.
In addition to the civilian casualties, the United Nations also said Monday that 10 million Ukrainians have fled their homes, including3.5 millionwho’ve left the country as refugees.
Within Ukraine’s borders, another6.5 million peoplehave been displaced during the war.
António Vitorino, the agency’s director general, added that “the scale of human suffering and forced displacement due to the war far exceeds any worst-case scenario planning.”
“Responding to the needs of those internally displaced and stranded in Ukraine is our top priority,” Vitorino added. “Our teams have been reaching thousands of people with essential aid, but we need hostilities to cease in order to be able to reach people in severely affected areas.”
Russia’s large-scale invasion, which began last month, is the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Zelenskyy called for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
