More than 12,000 Ukrainian children are in Russia, including forcibly deported ones - ombudsman

Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights of Ukraine, said this during a press conference at the Media Center.

"We have verified the number of children - over 12,000, of which about 8,600 have been forcibly deported to the territory of the Russian Federation. The numbers are probably different from those you come across in the public sphere that "about 150,000 Ukrainian children are in the territory of the Russian Federation," the ombudsman said.

Lubinets emphasized that detailed information has been established for each identified child taken out of Ukraine.

"As the ombudsman, together with law enforcement agencies and the Prosecutor General's office, we know where a particular child was deported from, where and in what status he lived in the territory of Ukraine, where he is now in the territory of the Russian Federation, in what status, what actions are being taken regarding him or her by the Russian authorities. We open criminal proceedings in each case. I can only speak about verified, confirmed data," Lubinets added.