Sibiga criticized UNICEF for a statement about the deaths of children that made no mention of Russia’s aggression
Andriy Sibiga, head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, criticized UNICEF over a statement regarding the deaths of children, which, he said, lacked proper context regarding Russian aggression.
Sybiga stated that the deaths of Ukrainian children are a direct consequence of the war that Russia unleashed against Ukraine. In his view, reporting on the casualties without mentioning the aggressor creates a false equivalence between Russia and Ukraine.
“It is extremely regrettable that in its August 4 statement, UNICEF omitted a key point: all these child deaths are a direct consequence of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. By reporting on these casualties without this fundamentally important context, UNICEF creates a false impression of equivalence between the aggressor and the victim,” the foreign minister emphasized.
He also accused the organization of factual inaccuracies. In particular, according to Sibiga, the statement incorrectly cited the number of children killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Seven children from one family were killed there, not three.
Separately, the minister drew attention to the mention of those killed in Krasnodar, Russia. According to him, UNICEF failed to note that, according to reports, the cause was debris from a drone that was allegedly intercepted by Russian air defenses.
Sybiga also recalled the death of a 3-year-old boy in the Kyiv region as a result of a Russian attack.
“These are war crimes committed by Russia. We call on UNICEF to condemn these horrific crimes and urge Russia to stop killing innocent Ukrainian children,” the minister stated.
It is deeply deplorable that #UNICEF missed the essential point in its August 4 statement: all these children’s deaths are a direct result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. By presenting these casualties without this essential context, UNICEF creates a false… https://t.co/YfHPqibw6b
— Andrii Sybiha (@andrii_sybiha) August 9, 2026
Sybiha wrote about this on August 9 on social media platform X.
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