The Kremlin’s attempt to issue Russian passports to Ukrainian children from the occupied territories is cynical and illegal. This was stated by Alona Lebedieva, the founder of the Ukrainian investment and industrial holding Aurum Group and the charity fund “AURUM”:
“The cynicism of the Russian authorities knows no bounds. Putin issues a decree that allows him to decide the fate of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children with one stroke of the pen. And in order to try to legalize their deportation, the totalitarian state is willing to violate its own laws. Moscow is not just trying to destroy our nation, but is also trying to improve its gene pool thanks to Ukrainian children”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has already notified the International Criminal Court about the Kremlin’s new crime. And also – he called on the international community to implement the warrant for Putin’s arrest issued by the International Criminal Court as soon as possible. Ukraine does not recognize the forced change of citizenship of young Ukrainians and will fight for everyone’s return.
“Only according to official data, Russia deported about 20 thousand children – these are the ones whose names the Ukrainian authorities managed to establish. In reality, the number may be many times higher, because we do not know for sure what is happening in the occupied territories.
At this point, it was possible to return home about 400 young Ukrainians. And every news about the return of 1-2 children is already a victory. All children stolen by Russia remain Ukrainians. We will not allow them to change their identity, make them forget their roots! And we will fight for everyone to return to the Motherland,” Lebedieva said.