Kuleba urges world to join forces to return thousands of Ukrainian children forcibly deported by Russia

The corresponding statement is published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Kuleba took part in a high-level UN event where 45 countries discussed human rights violations caused by Russia's aggression.

 "The most heinous Russian crime is the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, their abduction from their families and guardians. Thousands of orphans and children without parental care were given for adoption to Russian families. We are talking about thousands, possibly tens of thousands of children," Ukraine’s top diplomat said. 

The foreign minister emphasized that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians remain captives in the Russian Federation. In addition, all levels of the Russian government are involved in the deportation of children, which constitutes the crime of genocide.

 "This horror must be stopped, and all criminals involved in it must be held accountable. In order to stop it, all forces must be united. Governments, the international community, international organizations, NGOs, activists, media, experts and lawyers,” Kuleba urged.

He listed numerous Russian crimes: filtration camps, torture, executions, sexual violence, murders of civilians, missile and drone strikes on critical infrastructure.

Russia's aggression began nine years ago, in February 2014, with Russia's invasion of Crimea. Therefore, Kuleba called for the creation of a special international tribunal.

 "Unpunished evil is growing. The reason for Russian crimes during these nine years boils down to one word: impunity. Russia felt that it could get away with everything. Therefore, the medicine against Russian crimes also boils down to one word: justice," added the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

• On January 18, Ukraine’s Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that the Russian Federation had deported tens of thousands of children from Ukraine and did not provide information about them.

• During a meeting in Strasbourg with Jeroen Schokkenbroek, Director of Anti-Discrimination in the Directorate General of Democracy of the Council of Europe, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets discussed the deportation of Ukrainian children.