Ukraine’s Ministry of Reintegration reported on Tuesday that a total of 19,514 Ukrainian children were illegally deported by Russia, while 4,390 are in the occupied territories.
“The collected data will be used by Ukrainian and international investigators to prosecute those responsible for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children,” the ministry wrote on the Telegram social network.
Last week, Ukraine claimed that Moscow has “repeatedly” blocked the return of Ukrainian minors after they were deported to Russian territory, despite admitting it has received signs that Russia could start returning the children, according to reported the Ukrainian agency Ukrinform.
Russia has guaranteed that 56 Ukrainian children, admitted to centers for minors in Crimea and Krasnodar, are prepared to return to their families.
The data were released just days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alekseievna Lvova-Belovapor for alleged war crimes related to with the forced deportation of Ukrainian minors.
*With Lusa
