During the war, Russia abducted 20,000 Ukrainian children; over 1,850 have been returned. The UN demands their immediate, safe, and unconditional return, condemning forced transfers.
The UN General Assembly demands that Russia ensure the immediate, unconditional, and safe return of all Ukrainian children who were forcibly transferred or deported during its war against Ukraine. The corresponding resolution was adopted at the meeting on December 3. This was reported by LIGA.net.
The document was supported by 91 countries. Fifty-seven countries abstained, including China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, India, and others.
Twelve countries voted against the resolution: Belarus, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cuba, Congo, Eritrea, Iran, Mali, Nicaragua, Niger, Russia, and Sudan.
The General Assembly also draws attention to the fact that Ukrainian children are being granted Russian citizenship through a simplified procedure, illegally adopted, and that the whereabouts of some unlawfully transferred children remain unknown. There is also evidence of children being separated from their families and subjected to attempts at “indoctrination” — the imposition of a Russian identity. All of this constitutes a direct violation of international law. The document calls on Russia to immediately cease these actions.
The resolution was presented by Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mariana Betsa. She emphasized that the resolution is not about politics but about the moral duty of the international community to bring every child home.
“Our children were killed. Our children were wounded. Our children were subjected to torture and rape. Our children were abducted and deported by Russia, which is a gross violation of international law,” Betsa stated.
According to her, Russia has deported at least 20,000 Ukrainian children. Ukraine has so far managed to return more than 1,850 of them.
Betsa noted that the Russian authorities are trying “to erase the identity of Ukrainian children and replace it with hostile propaganda,” taking away the Ukrainian language, literature, and history, banning books, and persecuting teachers and parents. Children are forced “to repeat lies about Ukraine as a Nazi state,” and the process of “military training and ideological conditioning” is carried out even in so-called children’s armies.
- On June 2, during negotiations in Istanbul, the Russian delegation admitted that Russia had abducted Ukrainian children.
- With the assistance of Melania Trump, eight children were able to reunite with their families.
- On November 13, President Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had managed to identify hundreds of locations in Russia where Ukrainian children are being held. More and more are being found every day.
