Under the guise of evacuation, the Russians took 25 people from the Kharkiv region to an unknown destination. Among them are children

The Russians forcibly removed 25 civilians from the temporarily occupied territory of the Kharkiv region to an unknown destination under the guise of an “evacuation”. Among them were children, youth, and the elderly.

This was reported by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets.

According to him, the exact whereabouts of these people and the conditions in which they found themselves are currently unknown.

"Without a drop of shame, the occupiers themselves talked about the so-called rescue operation in their Telegram channels. But behind the beautiful word "evacuation" is a completely different reality: people were deprived of the opportunity to independently decide where to go and what will happen to them next. The available video materials testify to pressure and intimidation," Lubinets wrote.

He emphasized that the forced removal of people from occupied territory qualifies solely as forced displacement and deportation, which violates Article 49 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

The Ombudsman has already appealed to Russia to disclose the whereabouts of the deported people, provide full lists, report on the conditions of their detention, and return them to Ukraine. Corresponding requests have also been sent to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN.

• The deportation of Ukrainian children is one of Russiaʼs war crimes, for which the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the Russian Childrenʼs Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova.
• Ukraine has officially confirmed that Russia has abducted 20 600 Ukrainian children. Russia itself says it has taken 744 000 children. Ukraine also has evidence that Belarus is involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children.

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