MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. About 40 children have been wounded and seven have been killed by the Ukrainian armed forces’ shelling of Russian borderline areas since February 2022, Maxim Denisov, head of the Russian Investigative Committee’s special cases department, disclosed.

"Thus, since February 24, 2022, the actions of representatives of Ukrainian armed formations on the territory of the Belgorod Region have resulted in 21 children being injured and six minors killed. One child was killed in Crimea, five children were wounded in the Bryansk Region, and four children were wounded in the Kursk Region. The total number of wounded is 37, while another seven were killed. Ukrainian servicemen use drones to continue the systematic shelling of the territories of Russian regions adjacent to the border with Ukraine," he said on Monday at the upper house Federation Council during a hearing held by the parliamentary commission charged with investigating Kiev's crimes against children.

Denisov noted that, since 2014, a total of 3,912 criminal cases stemming from events in Ukraine have been opened against 922 people, including representatives of Ukraine's military and political leadership, members of radical nationalist groups, and representatives of Ukrainian security agencies. "Decisions have been made to bring criminal charges against 696 persons as accused parties, including 162 commanders and leadership staff of the Ukrainian armed forces as well as of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. One hundred and seventy-four defendants have been arrested in absentia," he said.