August 23, 2022, 12:45 PM
August 23, 2022, 12:45 PM
Ukraine on Tuesday accused Moscow of organizing illegal mass adoptions of ukrainian children transferred to Russia from areas occupied by Russian troops.
“Russia continues to kidnap children on Ukrainian territory and preparing their illegal adoption by Russian citizens,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“More than 1,000 children of Mariupol”a city in southeastern Ukraine occupied by the Russian army, “have been illegally handed over to foreigners in Tyumen, Irkutsk, Kemerovo and Altai” (Siberia), said the minister, citing information published by the authorities of Krasnodar, a city located in the south from Russia, not far from Ukraine.
In addition, more than 300 Ukrainian children remain in “specialized institutions” in the Krasnodar region, he said, without giving further details.
These acts of Russia suppose “a serious violation of the Geneva Convention” on the protection of civilians during war and the UN convention on the rights of the child, accused the minister.
kyiv, which compares the transfer of Ukrainian minors to Russia with “deportations”, assured that all little ones must “be returned to their parents or legal guardians.
This strategic port on the Sea of Azov, which before the war had a million inhabitants, was attacked by the Russian army in the first hours of the invasion.
After weeks of siege, which left at least 20,000 dead among its population according to kyiv’s calculations, the city came under total control of Moscow.
Several families from Mariupol told AFP that they had had to flee to Russia, reluctantly, to flee the fighting.
