Eleven children were returned from the temporarily occupied territories and the Russian Federation to Ukraine through the mediation of Qatar.
Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak reported this.
"These are 6 girls, including two native two-year-old twin sisters, and 5 boys. The youngest returned child is 2 years old, the oldest is 16 years old," wrote Lubinets.
According to him, two children were met with an ambulance, since one child cannot move at all.
He added that the return of the children was facilitated by Qatar, UNICEF and the State Border Service. The development of the return path and the entire process was handled by the Office of the Ombudsman together with other state authorities.
The children survived the occupation, the death of relatives, injuries. To some, the Russian Federation forcibly issued a passport and found "guardians" for them.
- Yesterday, February 19, it was possible to return five children from the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region to controlled Ukraine. One child is a 14-year-old girl deprived of parental care.
- The deportation of Ukrainian children is one of Russiaʼs war crimes. Currently, at least 19,536 Ukrainian children are known to have been deported. The Belarusian authorities are also involved in the deportation process.