Russia has abducted more than 20 thousand Ukrainian children

Russia has illegally abducted more than 20,000 Ukrainian children. There is also a risk of deportation of another 1.5 million Ukrainian children.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the statement of the Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.

The Commissioner spoke at the third plenary event of the international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children.

“I informed the audience that Russia has abducted more than 20 thousand children from Ukraine. However, there is a high risk of deportation of another 1.5 million children who remain in the temporarily occupied territories. Forcibly displaced and deported persons have their personal data changed so that their relatives and homeland cannot find them and return them,” the ombudsman said.

According to Lubinets, Ukrainian children are sent to so-called “re-education camps” where they are zombified with Russian propaganda.

He also told the partners about the deportation of orphanages, such as the Oleshky orphanage in Kherson region. The 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.

“We are aware of the facts that Ukrainian orphans taken to Russia receive inadequate medical care and have inadequate living conditions,” the ombudsman added.

Author - Olena Madiak, 02/10/2024