– You can often read in the Western media that we forcibly keep the children of Ukrainian citizens and prevent them from being reunited with their families. Thousands of people are cited, fear and panic are artificially stoked, the true picture of events is distorted,” the children’s ombudsman wrote. Telegram .
In the meantime, according to her, the situation is quite different.
- At the end of summer-autumn 2022, due to the situation on the front line, relatives from the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv regions and other territories, with the help of local military-civilian administrations, voluntarily sent their children to rest and protect themselves from hostilities, she said. – Together with the people accompanying them, by proxy of their parents, they were accepted by sanatoriums and health camps in the Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory.
As the situation on the front line did not always make it possible to organize a safe return for the children and their companions at the end of the shifts, the return of the guys took time.
– Difficulties with reunification also arise because not all parents can pick up a child independently, fathers of service age are not released by the Ukrainian authorities, mothers cannot always travel due to the presence of ‘other children, parents and their health warns them. Not everyone manages to find a trusted person who could come, writes Maria Lvova-Belova.
However, the families, according to her, are helped by volunteers from Russia and Ukraine.
Despite all the difficulties, most of the children have fortunately already returned to their families. In addition, they live in Russia, Ukraine and EU countries, the children’s ombudsman said.
It took a lot of work. Employees of the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman personally visited children in Crimea to help those who stayed longer than others.
So far, 89 children remain in southern Russia. They have everything they need, most of them have a connection with their relatives. And for each child there is an action plan for a possible return to their parents.
“Russia has never and will never prevent children from returning to their loved ones,” Lvova-Belova stressed. – If the parents or legal guardians are able and willing to accommodate them, we do everything in our power to help them.
At the same time, she noted that she had not received any requests from the competent bodies of Ukraine regarding this group of children.
