Denis Zaporozhenko had not seen his children for six and a half months. They were living together in Kherson, in the occupied south of Ukraine, when they separated on October 7, a month before Ukrainian forces recaptured the city.
This father of a family explains that he agreed to send his children to “holiday camps” further southin the annexed Crimea, because terrible fighting was announced in Kherson.
Russian officials at the school where they were enrolled “promised to send them for a week or two (…). By the time we realized that we shouldn’t accept, it was already too late.”
This week, his 10-year-old son was one of the 17 who, thanks to an NGO, were able to return to their homes after being taken to Russia or to areas occupied by Russian forces in Ukraine.
(Also read: “Give them back to me”: Ukrainian mother whose daughters were taken by Russians)
For kyiv, these minors are part of the at least 16,200 who were “kidnapped” by the Russians in the midst of the conflict, of whom only 324 have so far returned to Ukraine.
The situation of minors in the midst of the war became even more relevant after the decision, a week ago, of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian presidential commissioner for the Rights of the Child, for the alleged illegal deportation of children, which is translated into a war crime according to the Court.
Some were deported after being separated from their parents, because of their deaths, or because they were in orphanages. People in the occupied regions were also pressured to send their children “to a safe place”.
Moscow, for its part, denies the accusation and congratulates itself on having “saved” them from the war.
Now, families, voluntary foundations and the State treat each case separately in the absence of a single mechanism for their repatriation. The fundamental problem is the lack of information on the whereabouts of the children, explains to Efe Olga Yerokhina, press officer of the Save Ukraine Foundation.
In addition, the relatives have to overcome expensive multi-day trips, from Ukraine to places scattered throughout Russia, to recover them.
(Also: Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court sees Putin as possible to face trial)
When we realized that we should not accept, it was already too late.
One of the children who returned told the Grunt media outlet that they were systematically beaten for expressing pro-Ukrainian positions.
Other minors interviewed by AFP claim not to have suffered ill-treatment, but report episodes of indoctrination.
To help in the situation, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, announced this week the organization of a conference to locate the 16,200 deported Ukrainian children.
The aim is to obtain information from minors, including those who were adopted or transferred to Russian foster families.
*WITH AFP AND EFE
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