Ukraine returns only 800 out of 20,000 children abducted by Russia
Of the 20,000 officially registered children abducted by the Russian Federation, 800 were returned to Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister—Minister of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk reported this in an interview with Channel 24.
"Today, we do not know the exact number of children who were taken away. We managed to establish about 20 thousand children, of which 800 have already been returned. There are cases when children with their guardians were returned to third countries. This is a process that constantly continues," she said.
Vereshchuk noted that the Ukrainian authorities are looking for data about children through Europol, European and international institutions.
"If we find that a child is abroad, we remove it from the list. But we need information about the whereabouts of our children and their lists, and we are asking for it through the international community," the deputy prime minister said.
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It's worth noting that the Russian occupants have once again initiated compulsory medical screenings of Ukrainian children, who will subsequently be transported to remote areas of the Russian Federation for "rehabilitation."
As reported, at a meeting of advisers on national security and foreign policy, Canadian representatives proposed to create a coalition of countries that would facilitate the return of Ukrainian children deported by the aggressor country.
Japan joined the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.
Also, the USA officially became a member state of the coalition, which advocates for the safe return to Ukraine of children illegally deported and displaced by the Russian Federation during the war.
On March 17, 2023, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of the President of the Russian Federation, Putin, and the Commissioner for Children's Rights, Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of war crimes – deportation and illegal transfer of the population, including children, from the occupied territory of Ukraine.
