Lubinets explains difficulties of bringing young children back from Russia

Most of the children Ukraine manages to return from Russia are teenagers who can defend their Ukrainian identity, while bringing back very young children is extremely difficult.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, stated this during a conversation with journalists, Ukrinform reports.

According to him, as of today, the main goal of the Russian Federation is the radical transformation of Ukrainian children's identity into a Russian one. Therefore, he said, it is essential to keep pressuring the Russian side to immediately return Ukrainian children, because time is working against Ukraine.

"Most of the children we are able to return are teenagers. It is very difficult to bring back very young children. A teenager can at least say: 'I am Ukrainian. I do not want to be on Russia's side.' And it is much harder for the Russian side to brainwash them. But with very young children, it is much easier for Russia," Lubinets said.

He also called on the international community to increase pressure on Russia, stressing that a great deal of time has already been lost and Ukraine has lost many children.

Lubinets also noted that any talk of 'freezing' the conflict or handing over territories to Russia would, in practice, mean abandoning Ukrainian people and children, leaving them under Russian propaganda and at risk of deportation, killings or arbitrary detention.

"That is why we constantly raise this issue publicly, run an information campaign on the deportation of Ukrainian children, and demand their immediate return from the Russian side," he emphasized.

As Ukrinform reported, 1,902 children have been returned to Ukraine so far.