Ukraine brings home at least 380 children deported to Russia

At least 380 children who were deported to the Russian Federation have been brought back to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The exact number of children is "380 or 383".

Source: Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Vereshchuk says that a meeting of the coordination headquarters is held every Friday, where the issue of bringing back individual and groups of children is considered.

Iryna Vereshchuk commented on the words of Maria Lvova-Belova, Children's Rights Commissioner for the President of the Russian Federation, who reported that 700,000 Ukrainian children had been deported to the Russian Federation since 24 February 2022.

Quote from Vereshchuk: "I'm not sure about 700,000, but it's definitely more than the information we have. We know that almost 20,000 were taken away," Iryna Vereshchuk said.

The minister added that the Ministry of Reintegration is currently cooperating with the international community to bring back, in particular, orphans for whom the state is responsible, as soon as possible.

If the child has parents, they can pick up the child themselves.

"We demand that Russia provide, first of all, the lists of orphaned children. If they call it rescue and call it evacuation, then we demand the children be brought back from such evacuation," Vereshchuk added.

Background: Ten-year-old Varvara and six-year-old Renat met their mother for the first time after Russian captivity.

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