Boys aged between six and 17 newest to be handed over since begin of Qatari mediation efforts final yr.
Russia has returned six kids displaced by the battle in Ukraine in a deal brokered by Qatar, in accordance with Russian state media.
TASS information company revealed a video on Wednesday displaying Qatar’s ambassador shaking palms with the youngsters – all male and aged between six and 17, together with two brothers – in Qatar’s embassy in Moscow.
There was no speedy remark by Ukraine, however TASS stated the occasion was additionally attended by officers representing Russia’s Commissioner for Youngsters’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.
The commissioner and Russian President Vladimir Putin are at present needed by the Worldwide Felony Courtroom (ICC) for “unlawfully deporting” kids from Ukraine to Russia, a cost the Kremlin denies.
Ukraine believes Russia has illegally taken about 20,000 Ukrainian kids and minors since its February 2022 invasion, of which fewer than 400 have been returned. Russia denies that cost, saying it has transferred them for his or her security away from warzones.
Among the minors’ mother and father had been killed, whereas others had been separated from their carers by the fast-moving entrance traces initially of the battle. Various them had been residing in Ukrainian orphanages in areas Russia then occupied.
Since final yr, Qatar has led household reunification efforts following talks with each Russia and Ukraine. At Wednesday’s occasion, TASS quoted the Qatari ambassador in Moscow as saying the Gulf state hoped to proceed the cooperation.
Final month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated 16 Ukrainian kids who “had beforehand been forcibly deported” to Russia had been recovering in Qatar.
Zelenskyy stated the group was reunited with their households due to the Qatari mediation efforts which have helped deliver again dozens of kids taken through the battle.
