The British defense ministry has reported that Russia has implemented strict measures to improve the discipline of its troops in Ukraine. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of a free press and called for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich from captivity in Russia. A French artist created a mural in honor of an executed Ukrainian POW, and Pope Francis expressed his willingness to take any necessary action to bring peace to Ukraine.
According to a report by Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office posted on Telegram, at least 477 children have been killed and almost 1,000 have been wounded in Russian attacks across Ukraine since the invasion over a year ago. The majority of casualties were documented in the Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts, but the actual number of child casualties is likely higher as the report did not include data from Russian-occupied territories or ongoing hostilities. Last month, the National Police of Ukraine reported that nearly 400 children are missing.
In addition to the child casualties, over 19,000 children from Russian-occupied territories have been forcibly deported to Russia, with only 364 of them being returned so far, according to the Ukrainian national database Children of War. On March 17, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian official overseeing the forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia.