The Kharkiv region is one of the regions of Ukraine that has been under constant threat of shelling, airstrikes and destruction since the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion. From February 2022 to June 2025, this territory suffered hundreds of strikes on residential areas, villages, hospitals, and schools. In the conditions of prolonged combat stress, children remain especially vulnerable – those who cannot be protected only by instructions or shelters.
According to the official data According to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, as of June 4, 2025, 96 children died in the region as a result of Russian aggression.
The detailed data provided by the press service of the prosecutor’s office shows the structure of casualties: among the dead, 48 children were under the age of 14, and another 48 were between the ages of 14 and 18. Thus, almost half are children of preschool and elementary school age, who had no chance to escape during the attacks, even with the presence of shelters.
In total, 56 boys and 40 girls became victims of hostilities in Kharkiv Oblast. The recorded circumstances of their death are rocket attacks, artillery strikes, building collapses, being near targets that were hit by fire, or injuries due to flying debris.
In addition to the dead, the prosecutor’s office reports on 526 children who were injured or experienced an acute reaction to stress. Of them, 331 are boys, 195 are girls. Most of the victims were also among the younger ones: 255 children were under the age of 14, another 271 were between the ages of 14 and 18. These are wounds of varying degrees of severity: shrapnel, explosive, craniocerebral injuries, as well as psychological disorders that have the character of war trauma.
Most of the episodes recorded by law enforcement agencies concern settlements that were under heavy fire in 2022-2023, as well as border areas that remain under fire pressure in 2024-2025. In many cases, children died at home, in yards, near schools, during attempts to evacuate or during shelling of queues to volunteer centers.
On June 4, 2023, a monument to children who died as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation was opened in Kharkiv. It was installed near the building of the Kharkiv Regional Palace of Children’s and Youth Creativity — in a place associated with a peaceful childhood that was cut short for many.
The architectural composition consists of two figures – a boy and a girl, made of bronze. They are depicted flying over a split granite block, symbolizing an explosion. The image of children is presented in the form of figures with burnt wings, which remind us of destroyed dreams, destroyed future, deprived of time. The composition is about five meters high, the bronze has a special coating for durability.
The inscription was engraved on the vertical surface of the monument:
“To the little angels,
who met so early
with human cruelty
and, unfortunately, never
will not become adults…”
This monument is not a conclusion, it does not symbolize the end of a tragic period. Shelling of Kharkiv region continues. In 2024 and 2025, Russian troops repeatedly struck civilian infrastructure, including schools, kindergartens, and residential areas. The monument records not the end of the tragedy, but its intermediate boundary. It marks the point from which the account of the lost begins to pass into historical memory. But this memory is not complete.
Work on identifying bodies, documenting the circumstances of death, and collecting eyewitness accounts continues. Law enforcement agencies continue to record war crimes against children. Psychological and medical assistance is provided to those who survived but were left with trauma. Children’s hubs, rehabilitation offices, and school psychologists work in the Kharkiv region. But no help can compensate for the loss.
Assessing the extent of the damage, particularly the loss of children, has legal implications in the context of international war crimes investigations and future tribunals. The issue of responsibility for the deaths of civilians, including children, is in the center of attention of Ukrainian and international investigative bodies. In cases where the death was the result of deliberate or reckless shelling of civilian objects, it qualifies as a violation of the laws and customs of war.
96 dead children in Kharkiv Oblast are officially documented cases. They are part of the general register of losses, which continues to be replenished. Each of them has a date, place, circumstances, documents, testimony. There is no explanation in any of them.
