Russian authorities have altered strategies on deporting Ukrainian children after ICC warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova – Ukraine’s ombudsman

After the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Russian ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian authorities changed their tactics of deporting Ukrainian children. Representatives of the Russian Federation began to use new definitions in official documents so that no one could accuse them of kidnapping.

Dmytro Lubinets, the representative of Ukraine's parliament on human rights, told about this on the air of the Yedyny Novyny telethon.

The Ukrainian ombudsman emphasized that they are called "migration children" in official documents.

"Lvova-Belova, when the story of her communication with Putin was publicly shown, admitted that she "adopted a Ukrainian child herself," so these words are enough to convict her of a war crime. After receiving the warrant, the Russians began to say: "no, no, it was not adoption, it was temporary protection," said Lubinets.

The parliament's Commissioner for Human Rights reported that, as of now, such definitions as "migration children" and "new migration policy" appear in the official documents of the Russian Federation.

And no mention is made that we are referring to Ukrainian children, so there can be no accusations of a policy of genocide.

"But the children are not simply deported; they are forbidden to use the Ukrainian language, to call themselves Ukrainians. Legally, this is interpreted as the transfer of children from one ethnic group to another. This is one of the five signs of a war crime, which is defined as genocide," the ombudsman said.

Earlier, we wrote that the occupiers took another 450 children to the Russian Federation during the last period.

For example, the invaders recently took 50 high school students to Yaroslavl to encourage them to enter the local university.

It should be noted that on July 31, Maria Lvova-Belova, appointed by the Kremlin as the commissioner for children's rights, confirmed that since the beginning of the war, the occupiers had taken about 4.8 million Ukrainians to the Russian Federation. Among them were more than 700,000 children who allegedly did not have parents.

For reference:

According to the official data of the Ukrainian authorities, since February 24, 2022, 19,546 children have been deported from Ukraine to Russia.

These are only those cases that were officially recorded – when parents, guardians, or witnesses of the child's deportation reported it to the National Information Bureau of Ukraine.

So far, 386 children have been returned to Ukraine.

In the temporarily occupied Luhansk region, the Russian occupying forces are preparing another 750 children for deportation and have already started forming groups.

Recently, President Zelensky discussed the return of Ukrainian children deported by Russia with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

In addition, Kyslytsia [Ukraine's representative to UN – ed.] stated at the UN Security Council that Russia's invasion of Ukraine affected all 7.5 million Ukrainian children.

As Rubryka wrote, Ukraine's authorities have recorded the stay of Ukrainian children kidnapped by the Russian Federation in 57 regions of Russia.

It should be noted that it was because of the deportation of Ukrainian children that the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova.