At least 940 children have been killed in connection with Russia’s war against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to an investigation by Meduza.
The outlet identified 873 child deaths on Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, including areas occupied by Russia, and 67 on Russia’s internationally recognized territory.
For Ukraine, the count was based primarily on data from the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission, supplemented by individually verified cases from government agencies, relatives, hospitals, schools, media outlets and other open sources. The tally covers cases known as of October 9.
For Russia, Meduza applied the same methodology while excluding occupied Ukrainian territory from the Russian count.
Meduza stresses that 940 is a minimum confirmed estimate. The actual number of children killed may be higher because many cases, particularly in occupied territories and areas of intense fighting, cannot be reliably verified.