Ukraine reports almost 20,000 Ukrainian children illegally deported by Russia

The Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine has asked Russian citizens not to adopt Ukrainian children

Ukraine's Ministry of Reintegration has reported 19,541 Ukrainian children illegally deported by Russia, while another 4,390 are in the occupied territories.

"The data collected will be used by Ukrainian and international investigators to prosecute those responsible for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children," the Ministry said in a statement on its Telegram account.

Last week, Ukraine claimed that Russia had "repeatedly" blocked the return of Ukrainian minors after they had been deported to Russian territory, although it also admitted having received "signals" that the Russians might begin to systematically return the children, according to reports. Ukrinform agency.

Russia, for its part, assured that 56 Ukrainian children, interned in centers for minors in Crimea and Krasnodar, were prepared to return to their families in Ukraine.

These data came out a few days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights of the Russian Federation, Maria Alekseievna Lvova-Belovapor. , for an alleged war crime related precisely to the forced deportation of Ukrainian minors.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Irina Vereshchuk, has stated that the identities of the people who have "adopted" Ukrainian children deported to Russia "is no secret either for the Ukrainian or international Security Forces."

Through a message on his Telegram channel, written in Russian "so that all Russians can read it," Vereshchuk has accused Russian citizens of "publicly bragging about having adopted children stolen from Ukraine."

"Once again I remind all so-called Russian 'adoptive parents' and 'guardians' that sooner or later they will have to answer," he wrote. "I strongly advise Russian citizens not to adopt Ukrainian orphans who were illegally removed from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine."

The deputy prime minister has even gone so far as to publish several names of "Russian citizens who for some reason decided that they were allowed to adopt orphans stolen from Ukraine", something that she says several dozen couples have done.