Ukraine claims over 5,600 children forcibly deported to Russia amid the ongoing war

Amid the ongoing Moscow-Kyiv war, Ukraine has claimed that over 5,600 children have been forcibly deported to Russia. Kateryna Pavlichenko, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, said that the National Information Bureau has reported that more than 5,600 deported from Ukraine to Russia have been identified, Ukrainska Pravda reported. Pavlichenko underscored that the number of children deported to Russia is expected to be higher.

Pavlichenko further stated that the government has been working to set up a mechanism for the return of Ukrainians who have been deported to Russia. Pavlichenko advised people to contact law enforcement agencies in case they lose contact with the loved one who is abroad, as per the news report. Earlier on 22 July, Daria Herasymchuk, the representative of the President of Ukraine for children's rights and child rehabilitation, said that 5,100 children have been deported from Ukraine to Russia. Herasymchuk said that Ukraine continues to submit requests every day and called on everyone to report cases of child abduction to the National Information Bureau.

Ukraine claims 46 children returned so far 

According to Herasymchuk, Ukraine shares gathered data with the Red Cross and other organisations that assist to find the location of children. Ukraine President's representative, Daria Herasymchuk said that 46 children have been returned to Ukraine so far, Ukrainska Pravda reported. She claimed that the abducted children not only include orphans but sometimes children are taken along with their families or separated from them. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of deporting two million people from Ukraine. In his virtual address at the Asian Leadership conference on 13 July, Zelenskyy said that the people who have been deported are "intimated" and moved to remote areas of Russia in a bid to make it difficult for people to return to their nation. 

Ukraine claims 358 children killed since onset of war 

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office has said that 358 children have been killed since the onset of the war. Taking to their Facebook account, the Prosecutor General's Office in a statement said that more than 693 children have been injured in Ukraine since the Russian aggression commenced on February 24. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office said that the figures are not final as work is being carried out in places of active hostilities in the temporarily occupied and liberated regions. 

Image: AP