Ukraine and Canada launch international coalition for return of Ukrainian children
Andriy Yermak, Head of the President's Office (Photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine and Canada launched the operation of an international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children on February 2nd, according to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak.
According to his statement, he launched the coalition's work together with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly. They also presented the framework document of their activities at the meeting in Kyiv.
Photo: Launch of the coalition's work (twitter.com/AndriyYermak)
Photo: Launch of the coalition's work (twitter.com/AndriyYermak)
Photo: Launch of the coalition's work (twitter.com/AndriyYermak)
Photo: Launch of the coalition's work (twitter.com/AndriyYermak)
Yermak thanked Canada and Melanie Joly for their leadership in creating the international coalition. He emphasized that the return of children deported by Russia is one of the foundations of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plan.
Deportation of Ukrainian children
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the occupiers have consistently deported Ukrainian children to Crimea, Belarus, or remote areas of Russia. This led to the International Criminal Court in The Hague issuing an arrest warrant for dictator Vladimir Putin and the authorized representative for children's rights in Russia, Maria Lvova-Belova.
As previously reported by the Commissioner of the Ukrainian Parliament for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine had managed to return 517 children and 2,828 adults in total, including only 150 civilians.
Today, Zelenskyy also discussed the return of deported Ukrainian children with the new OSCE Chairperson, Ian Borg.
