Euractiv.com with Reuters Est. 2min 03-07-2023 Content-Type: News Service News Service Produced externally by an organization we trust to adhere to journalistic standards. A stuffed toy as Ukrainian activists protest in front of the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 02 June 2023. The activists call to terminate Russia's membership in the UN Security Council and facilitate the establishment of a special tribunal to address Russia's crime of aggression. The NGO 'Promote Ukraine' reports that at least 484 children were killed during the war and estimates that between 150,000 to 300,000 children have been forcefully deported, constituting an undeniable act of genocide and a crime against humanity. [EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET] Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Print Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Russia has brought some 700,000 children from the conflict zones in Ukraine into Russian territory, Grigory Karasin, head of the international committee in the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, said late on Sunday (2 July). “In recent years, 700,000 children have found refuge with us, fleeing the bombing and shelling from the conflict areas in Ukraine,” Karasin wrote on his Telegram messaging channel. Russia launched a full-scale invasion on its western neighbour Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow says its progranme of bring children from Ukraine into Russian territory is to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone. However, Ukraine says many children have been illegally deported and the United States says thousands of children have been forcibly removed from their homes. Most of the movement of people and children occurred in the first few months of the war and before Ukraine started its major counter offensive to regain occupied territories in the east and south in late August. In July 2022, the United States estimated that Russia “forcibly deported” 260,000 children, while Ukraine’s Ministry of Integration of Occupied Territories, says 19,492 Ukrainian children are currently considered illegally deported. Last March the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine, namely the unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. ICC judges issue arrest warrant for Putin over war crimes The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant on Friday (17 March) against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine. Separately the court issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, on the same charges. The United Nation’s Refugee Agency (UNCHR) has reported that more than 2.8 million Ukrainian refugees are recorded as present in the Russian Federation and over 22,000 in Belarus. International and Ukrainian actors, as well as several media outlets, report that the Russian occupation authorities have deported Ukrainian children – sent away for ‘ideological screening’. Some argue that these actions were pre-planned and part of a broader and coordinated Russian effort to annihilate the Ukrainian identity of the young generation. (With additional reporting by Georgi Gotev) Read more with Euractiv Making Russia payIn this week’s edition: Turkey+ deal ideas, same-old NATO boss and enlargement brainstorming.
