Another thousand children taken from Ukraine by Russians allegedly for rehabilitation - Ombudsman
Another thousand children taken from Ukraine by Russians (photo: Getty Images)
The Russians took another thousand children from the Kherson region. This time, the Russians explained it as “rehabilitation” that the children would allegedly receive in Kabardino-Balkaria, reports Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.
“The Russians took 1000 children from the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region to Kabardino-Balkaria for “rehabilitation,” Lubinets said.
He stated that in the more than two years since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the aggressor country has been systematically taking Ukrainian children aged 6.5 to 16 years old thousands of kilometers away from home to see the “beauty” of the Russian region that has taken over the Kherson region.
“Most of these children have parents who, in turn, probably give permission for the child to be taken away. However, the extent to which such a choice is free under the occupation remains an open question,” the ombudsman explained.
Lubinets also noted that during such trips, children are forced to adopt not only the culture and traditions of the enemy state.
“A powerful resource is used there to destroy their Ukrainian identity, which in turn is part of the genocidal policy of the Russian Federation,” he emphasized.
According to Lubinets, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the enemy has been illegally taking Ukrainian children from Ukrainian territories. At the same time, the process of returning such children home is complicated and lengthy.
However, thanks to the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities, some of them are still being returned to their homeland.
A few days ago, Ukraine returned four children from the occupied territories.
Shortly before that, it became known that 12 more children had been returned to Ukraine. These children had been living in the occupied territories for a long time.
