By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – , UN humanitarians have reported on Tuesday that over 80 civilians including children were injured in a Russian missile attack on the city of Sumy on Monday in Ukraine’s northeast.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric in New York cited local authorities, said over 20 children were injured with two schools, a hospital and multiple homes suffering extensive damage in the attack.
He said “Complementing the efforts of the first responders, and immediately after the attack, humanitarian organizations provided first aid and helped transport the wounded to the hospitals. They also distributed shelter materials, blankets and other necessities.”
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Mattias Schmale, condemned the attack in Sumy and recent drone strikes in the cities of Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv.
Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has verified more than 2,500 child casualties in that country since the escalation of the war in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion,, Mr. Dujarric maintained.
It also noted an alarming increase in child casualties in 2024, caused by explosive weapons targeting territory inside Ukraine, due to intensified attacks along the frontline in the Donetsk Region and increased use of long-range missiles, drones and aerial bombing.
White House on Tuesday said that Russia and Ukraine had reached separate agreements after talks in Saudi Arabia with US negotiators, with both agreeing to a maritime ceasefire in the crucial Black Sea shipping corridor.
US said Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to the principal of safe navigation, eliminating the use of force and preventing the use of commercial vessels for military purposes.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that the two announcements were a welcome development.
“These issues, notably, on the freedom of navigation and Black Sea, are issues that the Secretary-General, his team, Rebeca Grynspan head of UNCTAD and others, have been working on since almost the start of the conflict. And there continues to be discussions on these issues.”
Mr. Dujarric said the UN had played no part in discussions in Riyad but noted Ms. Grynspan had been in Moscow for talks Monday on resuming the Memorandum of Understanding between Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye and the United Nations under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which Moscow pulled out of in July 2023.
He confirmed talks had also taken place recently in Washington.
UN has been heavily invested in ensuring that Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea can happen safely, along with the transport of Russian food and fertilizer, to halt spiraling food prices worldwide and stave off famine in vulnerable countries.
UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative was agreed by Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye and the UN in Istanbul in July 2022.
It allowed more than 30 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs to leave Ukraine’s ports and played an “indispensable role” in global food security, Mr. Guterres said at the time.
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