Ukrainian Children Return Home Amid Ongoing Deportation Controversies

Nine Ukrainian children, deported to Russia since the February 2022 invasion, returned home recently with help from Qatar. The children, aged 13 to 17, and including a 20-year-old man, were part of an ongoing negotiation to repatriate more children. Some had disabilities and came from orphanages.

Nine children deported to Russia since Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine returned home on Friday with the help of Qatar acting as an intermediary, Ukraine's ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said. Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Lubinets stated the children ranged in age from 13 to 17, with a 20-year-old man also included in the operation.

Several of the children suffered from disabilities and had been taken from an orphanage in southern Kherson region, first to the Russian-held town of Skadovsk and later to Russia itself. Lubinets added that several of the returnees lost one or both parents to the war and were handed over to grandparents.

'We are always ready to bring children home on a large scale, but the Russians will do everything to drag out the process,' Lubinets said on national television. He noted that Qatar authorities were engaged in negotiations to bring home more children and that he had provided them with a list of 751 children, complete with paperwork for their return.

Ukrainian authorities estimate about 20,000 children have been unlawfully taken to Russia since the invasion, with only a few hundred brought back. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, in connection with the deportations.

Russia denies the deportation allegations, asserting that children were moved to areas outside combat zones, and dismisses the arrest warrants as meaningless.