More than 14 months after Russia’s war of aggression began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the return of all kidnapped children and for punishment for the perpetrators. “The deportation of Ukrainian children is one of the completely premeditated elements of Russia’s attempt to erase the identity of our people and erase the essence of Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address today.
This crime must be classified as genocide both politically and legally, the Ukrainian head of state demanded. This is also important to send a signal to other potential perpetrator states: “There will be penalties for genocide.” Work is continuing on the return of the missing children.
Since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Kiev has accused Moscow of deporting Ukrainian children. Selenskyj now spoke of a total of almost 20,000 abducted minors. Moscow denies this and speaks of evacuations.
In March, the International Criminal Court based in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin and his child rights commissioner, Maria Lwova-Belowa. Investigators hold both responsible for war crimes – including kidnapping children from occupied Ukrainian territories.
