War in Ukraine: Kyiv reports almost 11,000 abducted children

According to information from Kyiv, almost 11,000 children have been kidnapped from Ukraine to Russia. Russia speaks of convalescent stays or medical treatments. With international help, Kyiv wants to bring the children back.

According to the Ukrainian government in Kyiv, thousands of children have been kidnapped from Ukraine to Russia. There are at least 11,000 children whose names are known, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in his evening video address on Monday. “But those are just the ones we know about. In fact, more have been abducted.” With international help, Kyiv wants to bring back the missing children.

The head of the presidential office in Kyiv, Andriy Yermak, discussed the problem in a large online conference on Monday. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the ambassadors of the major industrialized and emerging countries (G20) also took part. “Our goal is to stop the violent kidnapping or deportation of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” said Yermak, according to official statements. Everything must be done to bring these children back and reunite them with their families.

Russia: children brought to safety

The Russian military and Russian authorities do confirm that children are being brought to Russia from Ukraine. They would be taken to safety from the combat zones or come to Russia for treatment or recovery. There are also reports of Ukrainian children being put up for adoption in Russia.

The Ukrainian child rights officer Dariya Gerassymtschuk spoke of 10,764 abducted children. Selenskyj thanked Guterres for his willingness to take on the issue of the children. “It takes the power of the whole world to bring back all the deportees,” he said.