Three children were killed and one injured when they set off a landmine on the outskirts of Horlivka, a Russian-occupied city in Donetsk Oblast, on Sept. 30.
The children stepped on a mine in a forest next to the front line near Horlivka. Three boys aged between 12 and 14 died at the scene. A 10-year-old boy is now in hospital in Horlivka, being treated for multiple injuries of medium severity, Ukrainian media reported on Oct. 1.
The United Nation Human Rights Monitoring Mission has confirmed the deaths of the children.
Located next to the Russian-occupied stronghold city of Donetsk, Horlivka was badly damaged in 2014 during heavy fighting between Ukraine’s army and Russian-led forces. The city has remained under the control of Russian-led forces ever since.
The front line between Ukrainian and Russian-led forces now runs close to Horlivka.
“It always hurts when people die, but it’s unbearable when children die,” Pavlo Lysiansky, the representative of Ukrainian ombudsman in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, said on Facebook.
Lysiansky said that the tragedy had happened due to the violation of the demining agreement between Ukrainian forces and Russian-led forces. In 2016, the sides agreed to demine the areas close to the front line.
Charity Foundation Povernys Zhyvym (Return Alive) wrote on Facebook that the children were killed by an anti-personnel mine, prohibited under the Ottawa Treaty landmine ban, which Ukraine ratified on Dec. 27, 2005. However, that treaty has not been ratified by over 30 countries, including Russia and the United States.
Since the war started in eastern Donbas in April 2014, the United Nation has reported the killing of 2,725 civilians.
Landmines and explosive remnants of war have taken the lives of 37 children and injured at least 107 people, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission said.
