As the Ukrainian city of Mariupol faced continued shelling from Russian forces, as many as 1,000 civilians—including women and an indeterminate number of children—took shelter in a theater located in the center of the besieged city. The word “CHILDREN” was visible from the air on both sides of the theater to indicate its status as a humanitarian safe zone for children and others. Russian forces deliberately bombed the theater leaving rescuers in a frantic search for survivors.
At this point the United Nations has estimated that more than 3 million people have already evacuated Ukraine, with millions more displaced within their own country—an unmitigated catastrophe consequent to an unprovoked invasion by the superpower next door. Among the evacuees are at least 1.5 million children who have seen their communities pummeled by Russian bombs, families separated, deaths of loved ones, infrastructure destroyed, educational disruption, and now face a future filled with fear and uncertainty.
The fact that the Russian invasion has now devolved from a military incursion to a genocidal flattening of civilian neighborhoods adds to a sense of random danger that cannot be predicted or controlled. This is precisely why protecting safe humanitarian evacuation routes has become so urgent.
