Unicef: More than 1.5 million children fled Ukraine due to Russian military escalation

The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) said that the number of children fleeing the Russian military escalation against Ukraine has reached more than 1.5 million children since the beginning of the crisis so far, an average of 55 children every minute.

During a press conference in Geneva, Unicef Spokesperson James Elder stressed that this refugee crisis is unprecedented in terms of speed and scale since the World War II, noting that dozens of children were killed and many were injured.

Ukrainian children arriving in neighbouring countries are at high risk of family separation, violence, exploitation, and trafficking, he explained, noting that the safest and fastest way out of this catastrophe is for this war to end now.

Unicef Spokesperson called for stopping attacks on civilian areas and infrastructure, as they claim more lives and force people to forgo essential health services despite catastrophic needs, noting that the war is causing children to miss school and that there are still millions of children in conflict areas in Ukraine.

Unicef continues sending essential supplies, as another convoy has recently arrived in Ukraine. This convoy consisted of 22 trucks with 168 tons of supplies, including midwifery kits, surgical kits, obstetric kits, oxygen concentrators, cold boxes, as well as blankets and winter clothes, water, sanitation and hygiene kits, in addition to early childhood education kits and adolescent kits.