Russians resorted to torture and used electric shock: Ukraine liberates 12 more children from Russian occupation – photo
Ukraine has liberated 12 children from the temporarily Russian-occupied territories of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts.
Source: Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner, reported that the children are now in Ukraine-controlled territory
Details: The commissioner noted that the children's relatives told him that the Russians forced them to obtain Russian citizenship in the occupied territories, as people there cannot use social services or seek medical care without it.
"Doctors don't even accept children with congenital disorders who need thorough care. However, parents are proposed to send their children for 'rehabilitation', which is often deportation or forced displacement.
It was the feeling of disempowerment, limitation and awareness of what the future holds for children that prompted the families to leave for the [Ukrainian] government-controlled territory," Dmytro Lubinets said.
In addition, some children were forced to attend Russian schools. The Russians promoted the idea of the "Russian world" during the lessons. [The "Russian world" is the general idea of the superiority of Russian Orthodoxy, culture, language, etc., widely promoted by pro-Kremlin figures – ed.]
The children and their families shared what they went through during the occupation.
"The Russians on the temporarily occupied territories detain, beat, use electric shocks, exert psychological pressure on adults and interrogate children without their parents’ presence and torture them as well. They also regularly conduct groundless searches in the homes of local residents," Lubinets stressed.
All of them are now safe. At the Child Rights Protection Centre, a team of specialists spoke with them and documented the crimes committed by the Russians that they had to endure.
Dmytro Lubinets once again emphasises that if a child goes missing, you should contact the National Police of Ukraine by calling 102.
If you are sure that the child is in the temporarily occupied territories or has been taken to Russia, you should inform the Human Rights Commissioner's Office. You can do this in the following ways:
- if you are in Ukraine, call the hotline at 0 800 50 17 20;
- if you are abroad – 044 299 74 08;
- send an email to hotline@ombudsman.gov.ua.
Background: Eight Ukrainian children aged 7 to 17 have recently been liberated from the Russian-occupied territories.
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