Russian invasion has killed 153 children, injured 245, Kyiv worst hit: Ukraine

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who is on an India visit, said some progress had been made at peace talks with Ukraine and that Moscow was preparing its response to Ukrainian proposals.

As many as 153 children have been killed and 245 children injured since the Russian military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, according to the office of the prosecutor general of Ukraine. "About 400 children have suffered in Ukraine since the beginning of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. Of these, 153 were killed and more than 245 were injured," the ministry's press service said on Friday – the 37th day of Moscow's assault on Kyiv. 

Two 11-year-old kids, Milana and Sasha, who were wounded during the shelling of Mariupol, in a hospital.(REUTERS)

Most of the deaths occurred in the Kyiv region (73), followed by the southeastern region of Donetsk (65) and the eastern region of Kharkiv (46). The toll may rise significantly as many victims in besieged cities of Mariupol and Chernihiv are unaccounted for, according to Al Jazeera.

The prosecutor general's said work continues to establish all the data on the affected children in the places of active hostilities and in the territories temporarily occupied by Russian troops – particularly in the city of Mariupol, parts of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Luhansk regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has unleashed unrelenting violence that has caused death and destruction across Ukraine. So far,  859 educational institutions have been damaged due to bombing and shelling. About 83 of them have completely been destroyed. The worst situation is in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kyiv, Kherson, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv regions and Kyiv.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, however, said on Friday some progress had been made at peace talks with Ukraine and that Moscow was preparing its response to Ukrainian proposals.

Speaking at a briefing after talks with his Indian counterparts, Lavrov said peace talks with Ukraine needed to continue but that Kyiv had shown "much more understanding" of the situation in Crimea and Donbas and the necessity of its neutral status.