In a heartbreaking revelation, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets disclosed that around 1.5 million Ukrainian children in occupied areas face the imminent threat of being deported to Russia. To date, Russia has already snatched more than 20,000 children from Ukraine, with only a fraction being reunited with their families. These abducted children undergo a harrowing ordeal as their identities are altered, making it nearly impossible for their loved ones to locate and rescue them.
Moreover, some children are subjected to Russian propaganda, stripped of their Ukrainian heritage in so-called ‘re-education camps.’ Shockingly, children from Kherson Oblast children’s homes have been forcibly transferred to occupied territories and then deported to Russia, while others have been unlawfully adopted by Russian families.
The heinous act of deporting Ukrainian children has not gone unnoticed, with the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Russian leaders implicated in these crimes. This violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention constitutes a grave war crime under international law. The plight of these innocent children underscores the urgent need for global attention and action to halt this egregious human rights abuse.
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