Ukraine verifies nearly 19,500 children abducted by Russia – Ombudsman

Russian authorities have officially documented the transfer of 744,000 Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories to Russia. At the same time, Ukrainian authorities have verified nearly 19,500 children and established their whereabouts.

This was stated by Ukraine's Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets in an interview with Army FM, Ukrinform reports.

"I will give several figures. The first is 1.6 million. This is the number of Ukrainian children who lived in territories currently controlled by the Russian occupation authorities. The next figure is 744,000 Ukrainian children. This is the number officially recorded by the Russians in their reports," he said.

Lubinets noted that, for example, Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian presidential commissioner for children's rights who is subject to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, officially reported that 744,000 Ukrainian children had been physically transferred from temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories to the Russian Federation.

"Another figure is 19,546. This number has been verified by Ukrainian government agencies and intelligence services. These are Ukrainian children whom we have identified, verified, and whose current location and circumstances we know," the Ombudsman added.

He explained that some of those children have been adopted by Russian families. As an example, Lvova-Belova herself adopted a Ukrainian boy named Filip from Mariupol, who is now considered a citizen of the Russian Federation.

Another example is the case of a young Ukrainian girl, Margarita. She was deported when she was 10 months old and was later adopted by Sergey Mironov. Her first name, patronymic, surname, date of birth, and place of birth were changed. She is now registered as Marina Mironova, allegedly born in the Moscow region.

"At the same time, she has a biological brother and sister in Ukraine. We have repeatedly proposed conducting a DNA test to facilitate her return. There are many such cases," Lubinets said.

The Ombudsman added that a "fashionable trend" has emerged within Russian state institutions to adopt Ukrainian children.

As reported by Ukrinform, as of April 30, Ukraine had succeeded in bringing back 2,126 children who had been abducted by Russia.