Russia has illegally abducted more than 20 thousand Ukrainian children, there is risk of deportation of another 1.5 million, - Lubinets
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has illegally abducted more than 20,000 Ukrainian children. Currently, there is a risk of deportation of another 1.5 million children in the temporarily occupied territories
This was announced by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets at the third plenary event of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, Censor.NET reports.
According to him, the occupiers change the personal data of forcibly displaced and deported children so that their relatives and Ukraine cannot find them and return them.
"Our children are even sent to so-called re-education camps where they are zombified with Russian propaganda. Just imagine: our children are being forced to deny their Ukrainian origin," Lubinets said.
The Ombudsman told international partners about the fate of orphanages, such as the Oleshky Orphanage, a municipal institution of the Kherson Regional Council, where children were first moved to the occupied territories and then deported to Russia.
Children from the Kherson Regional Children's Home were deported to Russia and adopted without permission.
Children do not have decent living conditions
The Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights stressed that Ukraine is aware of the facts that Ukrainian orphans taken to Russia receive inadequate medical care and have inadequate living conditions.
"Ukraine is independently searching for and checking the whereabouts of children, tracing their relatives, and involving family-based forms of care in this process. Our country is also working to improve legal mechanisms and cooperation between government agencies to protect the rights of children and their return," the official said.
The enemy is deliberately slowing down the process of returning Ukrainian children
According to Lubinets, 2 key resolutions were adopted, which are important steps in establishing internal processes aimed at returning deported Ukrainian children, as well as ensuring their rights upon return.
The Ombudsman stressed that the main problem now is that the Russian Federation is deliberately slowing down the process of returning our children.
"For Ukraine, international support is vital, so I called on all our partners to continue working together and increase pressure on Russia. Its actions must be recognised as an international crime, and all those involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children must be brought to justice," Lubinets added.
