The Lithuanian and Ukrainian social security ministers have signed a declaration on Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children, which will be sent to the United Nations, UNICEF, and other organisations.
“Today is the day when the declaration has all signatures on it. It will be sent to the United Nations, UNICEF, and other international organisations so that our countries do not remain silent about Russia’s action which is not only a direct act of war but is also a war crime of kidnapping and separating children from their relatives and their homeland,” Lithuanian Social Security and Labour Minister Monika Navickienė told a press conference in Vilnius on Wednesday.
The document calls on international organisations mandated to protect children’s rights to take urgent action to ensure the provision of essential services to Ukrainian children and to protect their right to maintain their national identity and family ties.
“Based on the information we have, more than 100,000 children have been deported to the territory of the Russian Federation or uncontrolled lands, mainly the city of Donetsk,” said Ukrainian Social Policy Minister Maryna Lazebna.
“International legislation states that forced transfer of people of one ethnic group to the territory of another ethnic group is genocide. This is an international wording, and we want to draw attention to that,” she added.
According to Lazebna, some 234 children have been killed and 669 wounded during the war in Ukraine so far. It is still not clear how many children have died in Mariupol currently occupied by the Russians, she added.
The declaration has also been signed by representatives of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
