The United Nations has accused Russia of killing 136 children in 2022 during its war of aggression against Ukraine, an internal report seen by dpa in New York on Thursday showed.

UN secretary general António Guterres said he was “appalled” by the killings.

The report also stated that Ukrainian forces killed 80 children.

The Russian army was included on a UN list of organisations that commit serious offences against children in armed conflicts.

According to the UN list, 477 children were killed in Ukraine last year, with 136 attributed to Russian forces and allies and 80 to Ukrainian troops.

Neither of the two warring parties can be blamed with certainty for the remaining victims.

Air strikes mostly killed the children, it said.

Such attacks are carried out by Russian forces on Ukrainian towns and villages.

The UN stressed that there was a large number of unreported cases because of the strict guidelines for verifying such cases.

“I am particularly shocked by the high number of attacks on schools, hospitals and protected personnel, and by the high number of children killed and maimed, attributed to Russian forces and affiliated armed groups,” Mr Guterres said.

He also expressed concern about the actions of Ukrainian forces.

The UN documented 92 cases of children last year, most of which were used as human shields in Ukraine. According to the report, the Russians were responsible for all but one of these cases.

Of a total of 751 attacks on schools and hospitals, the Russian army and its allies carried out 480 and 212 attacks were attributed to Ukrainian armed forces, while the remaining cases could not be attributed. 

(dpa/NAN)