Qatar will return three Ukrainian children from Russia

Three Ukrainian children who were taken to Russia will be handed over to Qatari diplomats in Moscow this week. This is part of the mechanism created by Qatar to return children to Ukraine.

This was reported by the representative of Qatar to "Reuters".

The other day, Qatar already facilitated the return of another seven-year-old Ukrainian child, who was reunited with her grandmother and is on her way to Ukraine via Estonia. Now 2-year-old and 9-year-old boys and 17-year-old girl will be returned to Ukraine.

Qatari diplomats will accompany the children across the border with Estonia, Latvia or Belarus or to Qatar on a chartered plane before returning to Ukraine.

The return of the first four children tests the system put in place by Qatar after months of negotiations with Kiev and Moscow. Qatarʼs Minister of State for International Cooperation Al Khater informed about this was only the first step.

Russian Commissioner for Childrenʼs Rights Maria Lvova-Belova provided a short initial list of Ukrainian children who need to be returned to a team of Qatari diplomats. They checked every child.

• On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Presidentʼs Commissioner for Childrenʼs Rights. They are accused of directing the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, which is a war crime. Children were taken out without the permission of relatives and Ukraine, in Russia they were granted citizenship. For this purpose, Putin passed a number of decrees that simplified these procedures, and Lvova-Belova carried out his orders. Together with their parents, up to 150 000 children could be deported to Russia. This is the fifth time in its history that the International Court of Justice has issued such a warrant to a sitting president.
• According to the state portal "Children of War", as of September 13, Ukraine was able to officially confirm the deportation of 19 546 children, and 386 were returned. Childrenʼs Ombudsman of Ukraine Daria Gerasymchuk stated that since part of the territory of Ukraine is under occupation and the authorities do not have access to it, about several hundred thousand kidnapped children.