Russia to release six more Ukrainian children after Qatar mediation
The mother of one 11-year-old boy in the group is a Ukrainian soldier currently being held as a prisoner of war in Russia, added the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. His father died around a decade ago and he will now stay with a maternal aunt. Until now, he had been living with relatives in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, the official said.
“Building on the momentum of recent weeks, Qatar continues to play a mediating role between the Ukrainian and Russian governments, successfully facilitating the reunification of six additional Ukrainian children with their families in time for the festive holidays,” said Al-Khater.
The latest family reunifications, she said, are “part of an ongoing initiative led by Qatar in response to requests from Russia and Ukraine to identify and explore potential areas of cooperation.”
“Today’s announcement marks another small yet significant step forward in this collaborative process,” she added.
The forced relocation of Ukrainian children to Russia or deeper into Russian-controlled territory has become one of the most fraught issues over the last 22 months of war. Russia has long insisted it is moving children out of front line areas to protect them, often sending them to summer camps in occupied Crimea or coastal regions of Russia.
Ukraine describes the process of moving children to Russia as an attempt to erase their Ukrainian identity and indoctrinate them to Russian ideologies.
In March, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. They are both accused of war crimes for deporting and transferring Ukrainian children. Lvova-Belova is among the Russians who have adopted a Ukrainian child since the February 2022 invasion.
The Ukrainian children being released Tuesday are from various backgrounds, the official briefed on the matter said.
One 13-year-old had been staying with his grandmother in a village in Russia. Through the Qatar-led reunification process, he and his mother reunited in Simferopol, a city in Russian-occupied Crimea. The pair then traveled to Moscow together and will now proceed onward to Ukraine.
A 15-year-old who was living with his grandmother under Russian occupation in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region traveled to Moscow with a guardian and will reunite with his mother in Kyiv.
An 8-year-old boy who was living with his grandmother in the occupied Luhansk region of Ukraine was reunited with his mother after Qatar helped facilitate her travel to Luhansk. Qatari diplomats helped escort the pair to Moscow and they will now return to Ukraine via Belarus.
Two other children currently living with their father and adult sister in Russia will return to Ukraine with their sister to reunite with their mother.
Qatar has facilitated the release of other Ukrainian children from Russia this year, including Bohdan Ermokhin, who is from Mariupol. After Russia’s assault on the southern city last year, he was moved to Russia and issued a Russian passport.
Ahead of his 18th birthday, his Ukrainian lawyer said he was summoned to register with a Russian military office, prompting fears he could one day be drafted and potentially forced to fight against his home country. Russian officials said those fears amounted to exaggeration.
He has since returned to Ukraine to live with his sister.
Hundreds of other children have been freed through the work of private rescue operations, including by the nongovernmental organization Save Ukraine.
