Ukraine parents ‘want their children back’ from Russia
Kyiv has accused Moscow of forcibly deporting 1.6 million Ukrainians with efforts under way to return 32 illegally adopted kids who were found.
![Children look at a burned car near a damaged residential building in the city of Irpin on September 11, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. - Ukraine said on Sptember 11, 2022, that its forces were pushing back Russia's military from strategic holdouts in the east of the country after Moscow announced a retreat from Kyiv's sweeping counter-offensive. (Photo by Sergei CHUZAVKOV / AFP) / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Sergei CHUZAVKOV has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [Irpin] instead of [Izium, Kramatorsk]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.](/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/000_32J789N.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
Published On 7 Oct 2022
Ukraine is working to bring back 32 illegally adopted children from Russia it said were forcibly removed from their parents and who “want them back”.
“We know the identities of the kidnapped children and will demand that Russia brings them back,” said Iryna Vereshchuk of the Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine.
Keep reading
list of 4 items‘He’s a hostage’: Ukrainian children reported seized, missing
UN says ‘credible’ reports Ukraine children transferred to Russia
US decries ‘disturbing’ accounts of Ukrainians deported to Russia
“As of today work is being done to return 32 children who are currently on the territory of the Russian Federation, but have parents in Ukraine who want to have their children back,” news agency Interfax-Ukraine quoted her as saying.
At least 7,343 children have been deported to Russia and another 236 are still missing since the start of its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, said Ukraine’s Office of the Ombudsman last month.
Ukrainian social services located 5,391 children and returned 55 home, it said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alleged on Thursday that Russia has forcibly deported more than 1.6 million Ukrainians.
“Many of them … were abused and intimidated. These are people, but for Russia, it is also a resource,” said Zelenskyy.
In September, the United Nations said there were credible accusations that Russian forces have sent Ukrainian children to Russia for adoption as part of a large-scale forced relocation and deportation programme.
The Russian ambassador to the UN has said the kidnapping allegations were “a new milestone in the disinformation campaign by Western nations”.
Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said last month more than 3.7 million Ukrainians, including 600,000 children, have gone to Russia or Russian-controlled separatist areas in eastern Ukraine, but they “aren’t being kept in prisons”.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies