Ukraine calls on Mexico, Peru and Ecuador to help bring back deported kids
Photo: Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador may assist in the return of Ukrainian children (Getty Images)
Ukraine calls on Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador to join the coalition for the return of Ukrainian children deported by Russia, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A Ukrainian delegation led by the Advisor-Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights and Child Rehabilitation, Daria Herasymchuk, visited Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador. Meetings were held with parliamentarians, government representatives of these countries, ombudsmen, civic activists, and journalists.
According to the MFA, Ukrainian representatives spoke about cases of killings and injuries of Ukrainian children during the war, sexual violence, deportation, and forced displacement of Ukrainian children by Russia.
Herasymchuk invited experts from Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru to join the work of the International Expert Group Bring Kids Back UA.
The delegation also included two Ukrainians who shared their personal stories. One of them, as a child, lived through the blockade of Mariupol in 2022, was abducted by Russians, and forcibly transferred to the temporarily occupied territories. The other grew up and studied in occupied Luhansk.
Deportation of Ukrainian children
Earlier, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported that Russia had deported more than 19,000 children from Ukraine. According to him, there is also a risk of deportation of 1.5 million children who remain in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Ukraine has initiated the creation of a register of children deported by Russia.
In recent days, three more Ukrainian children were returned from the occupied territories and from Russia.
Back in 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Russian Ombudsman in the case of the deportation of Ukrainian children.