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Hundreds of children's shoes lined the steps of the Manitoba Legislature Thursday during a somber ceremony as families gathered to remember the children killed in Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
“We can't pronounce the names of all the children dying in Ukraine, but we can stay here, pray and just hope that the war will end,” said Oksana Khuitsa, a Ukrainian mother who attended the event.
Fake candles illuminated 750 pairs of children's shoes on the stairs to the main entrance of the legislature in Winnipeg to honor the youngest victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“It just hurts a lot. It's very hard to think about it. Every parent, every mom and every dad, I think, feels the same when they think about the murdered children – they think about their own children,” said Mila Shikota, one of the organizers of the event.
The event was dedicated to World Children's Daycelebrated on 20 November to commemorate the adoption of the United Nations Convention on Child's rights.
Shikota said the memorial was built in the hope that the lives of children killed in the war would not be forgotten.
It was also meant to be a reminder of the painful consequences of Russian aggression in the country.
From February 2022 to December 2024, at least 669 children died in the controlled and occupied territory of Ukraine. The UN reports this.
Many of them died due to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
The UN believes the number of children killed is likely far higher than the officially confirmed death toll.
The number of children killed in Ukraine during the war had risen to at least 745 by the end of October. according to a UN report.
Three children were recently among 26 people killed when a Russian drone struck residential buildings in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil. The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine announced this on Wednesday.
“These numbers are not [only] numbers. This is something that happens every single day,” Shikota said. “I'd like people to remember that.”
