Russian military has been killing children in Ukraine with shelling for four consecutive days

Date: 13 February 2026
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From February 9 to February 12, at least six children were killed in Ukraine as a result of Russian shelling.

ZMINA reported this, citing daily police reports from the regions.

Rescuers from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS) in the Donetsk region use flashlights to search through smoke and concrete rubble in the dark. The personnel, wearing heavy protective gear, navigate a debris field following a Russian bombing raid on February 12, 2026. Rescuers are searching for the bodies of an 8-year-old boy, his twin brothers, and an elderly neighbor under the rubble of a building targeted and struck by the Russian military in Kramatorsk, the Donetsk Oblast

During the 24-hour period of February 9, the Russian military killed a woman and a child; on February 10, two adults and a child; on February 11, a father and three children; and on February 12, a boy and two 19-year-old brothers. All of them lived in the frontline regions of Kharkiv and Donetsk.

In total, since 2022, the Russian army has killed 684 children in Ukraine according to official data alone, and injured more than 2,300 others. Last year, the number of killed and injured children tripled compared to the year before.

The primary cause of child deaths is the Russian military’s use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas, including locations far from the front line.

In total, over nearly four years of full-scale war, the Russian military has killed a total of 15,000 civilians in Ukraine, according to official data alone.

A dual-panel infographic displays civilian casualties in Ukraine. The left bar chart tracks monthly tolls from February 2022 to December 2025, while the right inset focuses on December 2024 to December 2025, showing 157 killed and 888 injured in the final month of the reporting period.

To provide background, every fifth child in Ukraine has lost a close relative or friend due to the war. At least 1.6 million minors could remain under Russian occupation.

Cover photo: UNICEF

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