Ukraine says 38 children killed, over 70 wounded since start of Russian invasion

By AP 8 March 2022, 3:08 pm

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Serhii, father of teenager Iliya, cries on his son's lifeless body lying on a stretcher at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 2, 2022. (AP/Evgeniy Maloletka)

KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov releases new estimates of casualties and damage from the Russian war, saying Russian military actions have killed 38 children and wounded more than 70.

Overall at least 400 civilian deaths have been recorded and 800 wounded, though “these data are definitely incomplete,” he says in a video address.

It was not immediately possible to verify the figures.

He says Russian strikes have destroyed more than 200 Ukrainian schools, 34 hospitals and 1,500 residential buildings.

He estimates some 10,000 foreign students, notably from India, China and the Persian Gulf are trapped by the fighting, and describes attacks on British and Swiss journalists.

He claims that Ukrainian forces have killed more than 11,000 Russian troops.

“Russian invaders fire on humanitarian corridors through which civilians are trying to escape,” he says, without saying where.

Russian officials did not comment and have only acknowledged several hundred deaths among Russian forces.