Russians beat abducted Ukrainian children for disobedience – Ukrainian Commissioner for Children's Rights

Abducted Ukrainian children face bullying and even physical violence on the grounds of their ethnicity in Russia.

Source: Daria Herasymchuk, Ukrainian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights and Child Rehabilitation, during a broadcast for Svoboda.Ranok, a Radio Svoboda project

Quote: "Very often the children get punished because they refuse to speak Russian, learn and sing the national anthem of Russia, or stand up during the anthem.

Almost all the children testified that they were severely bullied and insulted for being Ukrainian. There are even children who say they were beaten for such disobedience."

The children had photo evidence but Russians made them delete everything when their parents came for them. So far, Herasymchuk has only had oral testimony.

She reported that at the moment there is information about over 19,500 deported and forcibly displaced children. The Russians themselves provided the number of 744,000 "evacuated" children.

Some children were taken to Russia or moved to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

"At the moment, there is information about 19,514 children based on appeals by local authorities, family, relatives, parents and witnesses of deportation and forcible displacement…

We realise that this is not the final version of the list. At least a few hundred thousand Ukrainian children were abducted by Russia," Herasymchuk reports.

So far, Ukraine has managed to bring 327 children back.

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