Children killed and injured in latest attacks across Ukraine as monthly child casualties reach four-year high

KYIV, 25 August 2026 – At least 16 people were killed and more than 140 injured, including 23 children, in an attack by the Russian Armed Forces on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region on 21 August. Another strike on Mykolaiv on the same day reportedly killed 3 children, as child casualties continue at levels not seen in more than four years.

The latest attacks come after July recorded the highest monthly number of child casualties in Ukraine since April 2022. Seventeen children were killed and 166 injured in July, according to UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine – a 49 per cent increase from the previous month.

“Children are being killed and injured in their homes, in their playgrounds, and in their communities. Schools and hospitals are being hit. Far too many young lives have been cut short or forever changed. This is unacceptable. Children need peace,” said UNICEF Representative to Ukraine, Anne-Claire Dufay.

Since the escalation of the war in February 2022, the UN has verified 3,946 children killed or injured in Ukraine, with the actual number likely to be higher. UNICEF and partners are providing emergency assistance to children and families affected by the war, including mental health and psychosocial support, and are rehabilitating school shelters so children can continue in-person learning as the school year starts.

UNICEF is calling for an end to attacks that kill and injure all children in this war, for full compliance with international humanitarian law, including the protection of children and the civilian infrastructure they depend on.

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Notes for editors:

Data on child casualties is from the latest Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Report of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, which contains UN-verified data as of end-July 2026.

Multimedia resources: Impact of 20 August 2026 attack on Kyiv