Russia deports over 4,500 Ukrainian orphans and children deprived of parental care – Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister

At least 20,000 children have been illegally deported by Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion. Over 4,500 of them are orphans or children deprived of parental care.

Source: Iryna Vereshchuk, Vice Prime Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, during a briefing at the conference UA: War. Unsung Lullaby, as reported by  Ukrinform news agency

Quote: "At least 20,000 children have been identified, and several dozen more are still waiting to be found and brought back. In particular, we have to bring back more than 4,500 special status children [i.e., those who have the status of orphans or children deprived of parental care – ed.]," she said.

Details: The official added that the government is currently considering the option of evacuating such children abroad.

For example, 600 children have recently been evacuated from the war zone to Austria, Switzerland, Poland and Türkiye.

Background: Vereshchuk has previously noted that deported Ukrainian children in Russia are having their names, surnames and dates of birth changed.

Ukraine has also been investigating the involvement of Belarus in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. The Belarusian opposition has recently reported that more than 2,000 Ukrainian children are being held in special camps.

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