This is reported by Kyiv24
The Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, commented on the situation regarding Russia’s response to Kyiv’s official request for a list of 339 Ukrainian children who have been illegally taken or are being held in the territory of the Russian Federation. According to him, the Russian side provided only partial information concerning less than one-fifth of the children on the list.
Limited Response from Russia to Ukraine’s Request
Ukraine submitted the list of 339 children to Russia as a step towards building trust during the negotiation process. However, according to Andriy Yermak, the response received was fragmented. Russia provided data only about a small portion of the individuals on this list, and there has been no response regarding over 200 children, including the wards of the Kherson orphanage. The Head of the Office emphasized that the Russian claims of “fully processing the list” do not reflect reality.
“Only partial information has been provided regarding less than one-fifth of the children from the initial list. There has been no response regarding over 200 children, including the wards of the Kherson orphanage – any reaction is absent. The assertion of ‘fully processing the list’ is, to put it mildly, not true.”
It is also reported that Russia announced the return of six children, five of whom are members of the same family. Their return was made possible through humanitarian mediation by Qatar, a process that took over a year. This case, according to Yermak, demonstrates the effectiveness of international mediation rather than actions by the Russian side.
Violations of International Law and Further Actions
Additionally, Russia claims that some of the children on the submitted list have already reached adulthood. However, among the individuals mentioned are wards from the Oleshky boarding school for children with disabilities, which included both minors and adults. Yermak emphasized that the forcible displacement of these individuals is a gross violation of international humanitarian law, and reaching the age of 18 does not absolve Russia of responsibility for war crimes or deprive these individuals of their right to return home.
Regarding claims about some children being in Europe, the Russian delegation provided only minimal information about two children who allegedly left Russia, without specifying the countries or circumstances of their border crossing. Ukraine insists on receiving complete information about them.
The Ukrainian side remains open to further negotiations in the humanitarian direction and expects comprehensive answers regarding each child on the list.
It is worth noting that in June, the second round of negotiations took place in Istanbul between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia, during which Kyiv officially handed over the list of children that need to be returned to the Russian side.
According to official statistics, as a result of the full-scale invasion, over 20,000 Ukrainian children found themselves in the territory of Russia or in occupied lands. According to estimates from the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights, the number of illegally taken children could range from 150,000 to 300,000.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the Russian children’s ombudswoman, Maria Lvova-Belova, on suspicion of committing war crimes, including the forcible deportation of Ukrainian children. According to Russia, in 2023, Russia “accepted” about 4.8 million Ukrainians, of which over 700,000 are children. However, the majority of them, according to the Russian side, allegedly arrived with relatives.