Information on the situation with the so-called "deportation" of Ukrainian children to Russia
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on February 7, 2024 on the so-called "deportation" of Ukrainian children to Russia:
“We have taken note of a declaration on the establishment of the so-called international coalition “for the return of Ukrainian children,” an initiative launched by Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly during her visit to Kiev on February 2.
It is of particular interest that the declaration contains references to the notorious Zelensky formula and the Copenhagen format. Let’s take a closer look. When their pseudo-peace initiatives failed to draw proper support or gain a fundamental framework, the Kiev authorities and the Western countries supporting them decided to incorporate children in their “formula” as well. Their line of thinking is obvious. Support for minors is a call that’ll most likely leave no one indifferent.”
“Russia is saving children without differentiating whether they are of Russian, Ukrainian, or any other ethnic descent. We rescue and treat children, help them and bring them back to their families, which has been done regularly for years.
Russia does not kidnap, deport, or forcibly displace children, contrary to what is alleged by the Western media citing Western politicians and representatives of political groups. Children are rescued and evacuated from areas of intense fighting. I am primarily referring to orphans and minors left without the care of their legal guardians. If relatives of these children turn up, Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Mrs. Maria Lvova-Belova’s staff do whatever is needed and possible to expedite their reunification.
Our task is to ensure minors’ safety and create conditions for them to lead normal lives. We will continue to do this despite threats, blackmail, sanctions, and other impediments placed in our way by the Kiev regime and the West.”
The office of the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Mrs. Maria Lvova-Belova works actively to reunite families separated by the war. All applications are being processed consistently and in an open way. A communications channel has been set up with the Ukrainian party to exchange information, verify data and coordinate the process of reuniting families. With the direct participation of the Russian human rights centre, 35 children from 24 families were reunited with their relatives in Ukraine and other countries. In addition, children whose parents sent them on holiday to resorts in the Republic of Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory in the late summer-autumn 2022, have returned to their families.
Since February 2022 over 5 million people, including over 730,000 children, had gone to Russian regions from Ukraine and the Donbass republics. About 2,000 of these children lived in orphanages and went to Russia with orphanage directors and staff at the request of the heads of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. A considerable number of these children have returned to their orphanages, about 400 children have been moved to orphanages across Russia because of continuing Ukrainian shelling attacks, and 358 have been assigned to Russian foster families. Also, 22 children from Mariupol have been tentatively assigned to foster families. They have not been formally adopted. There is a list of children who are alive that includes contacts of those willing to help these children to reunite with their parents or close relatives in the event they make themselves known.
