Thousands of Ukrainian teenagers, children and babies were deported to russia in the framework of the war that is about to celebrate its first anniversary. Although the government of Vladimir Putin Make sure that the reason for the transfer of minors from the territories under Russian occupation was to “keep safe” the conflict zone, there is reports indicating that it would be massive deportations with various fines, including their re-education in Russian values. Ukrainefor his part, denounces child genocide.
The condemnation against the Kremlin for the situation of minors and victims of the war came first from kyiv, which keeps track of at least 14 thousand minors who were forcibly transferred to Russian territory. This is what it says on the website sons of war (children of war), set up by the government of Volodymyr Zelensky to find boys who disappeared during the war.
“This is nothing more than the genocide of the Ukrainian people through our children”said Daria Herasymchukthe Commissioner for Children’s Rights and Rehabilitation of Ukraine. “They kidnap them, change their citizenship, give them up for adoption under guardianship, commit sexual violence and other crimes”added.
The official’s statements were collected by a journalistic publication of the European Broadcasting Union Investigative Journalism Network (EBU) that denounces the situation of minors who are deported in the framework of the war. It is a space that brings together journalists from the main media of the old continent, including the BBC (United Kingdom), RTVE (Spain) and ZDF (Germany).
According to a report, Russia sent 6,000 Ukrainian children to “re-education camps”
“Chilling” findings about minors “re-educated” by Russia
Lack of information and a moving story. The report collected information about the process in which minors from Russian-occupied areas in eastern Ukraine are granted Russian citizenship and puts them under guardianship temporary from that country.
The investigation took weeks and documented videos from official Russian media, statements by Ukrainian officials, testimony from relatives and data from international NGOs. The Russian authorities, meanwhile, did not respond to the request for interviews.
According to the report, since the war began on February 24, 2022, hundreds of boys have been transferred “by force” from the occupied areas. Zaporizhia, Kharkov, Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk who came under fire to Russia, where they were welcomed by Russian families or accommodated in state institutions. There are also those who were sent by their parents to summer camps or medical centers and did not return after completing those tasks.
“Many have received Russian passports at naturalization ceremonies. Some have disappeared entirely.”, indicates the publication of the network of journalists. It also indicates that it is “impossible” to know the exact number of Ukrainian boys who were transferred to Moscow and other areas in the interior of Russia where local authorities offer benefits to families who want to take them in.
Added to this finding is the recent publication of the more than 6,000 Ukrainian minors that were sent from occupied zones to 42″concentration camps“in Russia for his “re-education”, according to the Yale University report, sponsored by the United States Department of State. According to this investigation, “there is evidence” that Russia violated the Geneva Convention and other international instruments that protect minors in armed conflict.
Russia’s explanation
The Kremlin governs secrecy on the issue and insisted that the reason for the “evacuation” of the boys is to keep them safe from the war zone until they can locate their relatives. They also denied that it was a campaign to “deport them by force”, as denounced by Kiev.
“Russia asked children who were forced to flee with their families from the shelling and atrocities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We do everything possible to keep minors in families and, in the event of the absence or death of parents and relatives, transfer orphans under guardianship. protection of their lives and welfare“, spread the Russian embassy in the United States through its Telegram channel.
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Meanwhile, the embassy urged the United States to give a “proper assessment of the actions of the Kiev regime”, which “kills and injures children” in the course of the conflict. In that sense, he pointed out that thanks to the military assistance of Washington and its Western allies, the Ukrainian Armed Forces “attack civilian infrastructure: schools, kindergartens and hospitals.” In addition, the justified Russian diplomatic headquarters that 153 minors found in the Donbas region in 2022 and others 279 were injured as a result of the conflict.
International condemnation of Russia
In addition to the network of European journalists and the Ukrainian government, governments around the world, international NGOs and the UN condemned the Russian actions. After visiting Ukraine, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), philip grandiarose from that in a war situation children cannot be given to another nationality or made to be adopted from another family, as the Russian authorities did under the pretext that it is a “temporary measure” until the children find their relatives.
“In a war situation, you can’t determine if the children have family or guardianship. And therefore, until that is clarified, you cannot give them another nationality or have them adopted by another family. So it is very clear, We have said it, but I want to repeat it, this is something that is happening in Russia and it should not happen.”
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