Ukraine said on Friday that Russia had forcibly deported more than 210,000 children since the invasion began on February 24 and accused Moscow of wanting to make them Russian citizens.
Human rights ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova said the children were among the 1.2 million Ukrainians Kiev says were deported against their will.
Reuters could not independently verify the number provided by Denisova or her claims, for which she did not provide supporting evidence.
The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Denisova’s allegations about the deportation of large numbers of children and other Ukrainian citizens.
Moscow has denied intentionally targeting civilians since launching what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine and says it is offering humanitarian aid to those who want to leave Russia.
“When our children are taken away, they destroy our national identity, they deprive our country of the future,” Denisova said on national television.
“They teach our children there, in Russian, the history that [o presidente russo Vladimir] Putin told everyone.”
Russia referred to “refugees” arriving in Russia to escape fighting, mainly from the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is in Russian hands after weeks of siege and bombing.
The 1949 Geneva Conventions, which set international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in conflicts, prohibit the mass forced transfers of civilians during a conflict to the territory of the occupying power, classifying it as a war crime.
(Edited by Timothy Heritage and Jon Boyle)
Source: CNN Brasil
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