UN Secretary-General António Guterres has noted a significant rise in gross violations of children's rights amid the armed aggression of Russia against Ukraine this year, and once again included the Russian military in the «shame list».

This information is presented in Guterres's annual report «Children and Armed Conflict», which was introduced at a UN Security Council meeting by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba.

The highest increases in such violations were recorded in Lebanon (545%), Mozambique (525%), Haiti (490%), Ethiopia (235%), while in Ukraine, it stands at 105%.

«I am deeply concerned about the sharp rise in gross violations against children in Ukraine, particularly the killing and maiming of children, as well as attacks on schools and hospitals,» – the Secretary-General stated in the section dedicated to Ukraine.

During the reporting period (2024–2025), the UN documented the killing of 94 and injury of 577 children. Responsibility for these actions is attributed to the Russian armed forces and associated groups, according to the report. There were also 559 attacks on schools and 303 on hospitals documented.

The document confirms that many Ukrainian children taken to Russia are still missing.

«I strongly urge the Russian Federation to cooperate with the UN to return Ukrainian children and reunite them with their families and/or guardians,» – Guterres emphasized.

As a result, the Russian Armed Forces are officially listed again among state structures that systematically violate children's rights (the so-called «shame list»). The list also includes the DRC, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and several other states and regimes.

The Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, Andrii Melnyk, urged the Security Council to impose sanctions against states and individuals responsible for serious violations of children's rights during armed conflicts.