UN urges Russia to disclose information on deported children from Ukraine

Reuters reported the information.

In a report on Russia, the UN Committee noted that Moscow should provide information on the exact number of children taken from Ukraine and their whereabouts so that they can be identified and returned.

The Committee also emphasized that Russia must ensure that no child is deprived of Ukrainian citizenship and that their names and information about their family ties remain unchanged.

Moscow, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, says it was only protecting vulnerable children from the war zone.

Committee Chairwoman Ann Skelton said the committee and a Russian delegation that traveled to Geneva last month for talks on children used different terminology. The Russians deny that they violated international law and claim that they were only concerned about the safety of the children.

According to Skelton, at the same time, the delegation acknowledged that many of the children had been granted Russian citizenship, "which would also in itself mean that these children were losing their identity and being given a Russian identity."

• On December 7, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian parliament, Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said that the deportation of 19,540 Ukrainian children by Russia has been officially confirmed.
• On January 25, PACE called on EU parliaments to recognize the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as a war crime.