YEKATERINBURG, September 16. /TASS/. Around 4,000-5,000 young people and children have been injured or killed by Ukrainian shelling of the Donetsk People's Republic since 2022, Russian Senator from the DPR Alexander Voloshin said in an interview at the TASS booth at the International Youth Festival.

In total, around 22,000 civilians in the region have been killed or injured by Ukrainian aggression since the start of the special military operation.

"Even the preliminary data available to the relevant authorities suggest that the total number of dead and injured among the civilian population stands at around 22,000 people. According to expert estimates, about 4,000-5,000 of them are young people and children. The number of destroyed lives runs into the thousands. Hundreds of children and young people were injured, left homeless, lost their parents, and witnessed horrors that no child should have to see," Voloshin said.

"The regional authorities are doing and will continue to do everything to protect children and young people from attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces, to give them the opportunity to study, develop, and build their future."

The senator is confident that those responsible for the attacks on civilians in the DPR will get the punishment they deserve.

"Of course, this is a tragedy. It's hard to describe the pain our war·torn region and its residents are experiencing. I would, of course, like to express my condolences to all the families affected by this tragedy and to those who have suffered such heavy losses -- the loss of children and loved ones," Voloshin added.

The International Youth Festival is taking place in Yekaterinburg from September 11 to 17 under the theme "Follow Your Dream." It is planned that 10,000 young leaders from 191 countries around the world will attend: 5,000 from Russia and 5,000 from foreign countries. A thousand teenagers aged 14 to 17 will take part in the program. TASS is the general information partner of the event.