Ukraine brings back eleven children deported or kept under occupation by Russia
Ukraine managed to return 11 children whom the Russians deported to their territory or kept under occupation.
Human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets reported this.
There are a total of six girls among the children who have returned, two of whom are two-year-old twin sisters. There are also five boys. The youngest returned child is two years old, while the oldest is 16 years old. An ambulance had to be called for two children, as one of them was unable to move.
"Ukrainians were successfully returned from temporarily occupied territories (TOT) and the Russian Federation with the mediation of the State of Qatar and with the support of UNICEF, as well as assistance in the work of the State Border Service. Like all others, this return took place within the framework of implementing the approved action plan of the President of Ukraine Bring Kids Back UA. The Ombudsman's Office and other state authorities were in charge of handling the return process. The families of the children sought our institution's help to bring back forcibly displaced and deported Ukrainians to their homeland," the message reads.
The Ambassador of Qatar to Ukraine, Hadi Al-Hajri, met the children with the Ukrainian team.
Lubinets noted that the children's fate is tragic — they had to survive the occupation of their hometowns, bombings and injuries, and the death of relatives. Some were forcefully given passports by the Russian Federation and even had "guardians" assigned to them.
"Now the Ukrainians are at home. Our task is not only to take care of the logistical, security, and other directions of return but also to continue to ensure that the children receive psychological and humanitarian assistance, involving partners in this. We will continue to work to return home the Ukrainian children kidnapped by the Russians and to facilitate the reunification of families!" the commissioner said.
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As Rubryka previously reported, a 14-year-old orphan girl and four other children and their parents were returned to the controlled territory of Ukraine from the occupied left bank of the Kherson region.
Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression, the soldiers of the enemy army have been taking Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation and the territories controlled by them. Ukraine's National Resistance Center created a map of the camps to which children are sent.
In addition, the national resistance reports that the Russian occupiers are detaining children in the temporarily occupied territories to pressure their parents.
It is also known that the Russians are recruiting Crimean schoolchildren to the "Unarmy."
As reported by Ombudsman Lubinets, the deportation of more than 19,500 Ukrainian children has been officially confirmed.
Russia is reluctant to make contact regarding the return of deported children in Ukraine; in addition, there are known cases of adoption of young Ukrainians by Russian families, even though relatives are waiting for them at home.
As previously reported by Rubryka, Ukraine and Canada launched the work of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.
International detectives searched for eight Ukrainian children whom the Russian invaders took from the occupied territories: for this purpose, about 60 investigators from 23 countries were involved.
With the participation of the Ministry of Reintegration, another child was returned from the territory of the Zaporizhzhia region, temporarily captured by the Russian invaders.
