Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of forcibly deporting more than 200,000 children from Ukraine, including orphans and those separated from their parents, since the start of the invasion.
The Ukrainian leader called the forced deportations a “criminal policy” and a “heinous war crime” in a Wednesday night address and said that both children and adults are being taken to remote areas of Russia to prevent them from returning home.
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“In total, more than 200,000 Ukrainian children have been deported so far. These are orphans from orphanages, children with parents, children separated from their families,” Zelensky said.
“The Russian state disperses these people on its territory, settles our citizens, in particular, in remote regions. The purpose of this criminal policy is not just to steal people but to make deportees forget about Ukraine and not be able to return,” he added.
Andriy Yermak, a top Zelensky aide, provided details on the forced deportations of Ukrainians at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week. Yermak claimed the Kremlin is working to simplify the adoption process for Russian families to adopt orphaned children taken from Ukraine.
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Zelensky’s Wednesday address marked “Children’s Day” in Ukraine. Along with excoriating Russia for the deportation of children, the president also detailed the tragic deaths of several specific children in Ukraine, noting that 243 children have been killed since the start of the war.
“The inevitability of punishment is a principle that Ukraine will definitely teach Russia,” Zelensky said, vowing to hold Russia accountable for the death and deportation of Ukrainian children.
