The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution demanding that Russia cease all further practices of transferring and deporting Ukrainian children. The resolution, adopted on Thursday, calls for the immediate return of all Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred or deported to Russia.
The resolution garnered support from 91 nations, with 12 countries, including Russia, voting against it. Fifty-seven countries abstained from the vote. The document urges Russia to halt any additional actions involving the transfer or deportation of children, separation from their families, alteration of their legal status or nationality, adoption, or placement in foster care. It also calls for a cessation of any attempts to impose a change of identity.
Mariana Betsa, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, addressed the General Assembly, stating that Russia has “kidnapped at least 20,000 children” since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. She described it as “the largest state-sponsored kidnapping operation in history.” Betsa noted that over 1,850 children have been returned to Ukraine to date, adding that a just peace cannot be achieved without the return of all Ukrainian children.
In response, Maria Zabolotskaya, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, rejected the resolution’s claims, characterizing them as “filled with false accusations.” She asserted that “every vote against the resolution is a vote for peace.”
New Allegations Emerge
Kyiv has also accused Moscow of sending “kidnapped” Ukrainian children from Russian-controlled territories in Ukraine to “re-education camps” in North Korea. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, stated in a statement on Thursday that there is “new information” indicating the existence of camps in North Korea where these children are allegedly being subjected to Russian-style indoctrination and forced “militarization.” He emphasized the need to find, protect, and return every child to their homeland.
Kateryna Rashevska, representing the “Regional Center for Human Rights,” a Ukrainian non-governmental organization, testified before the U.S. Senate on Wednesday that her organization has documented the existence of 165 “re-education camps” for Ukrainian children “abducted” by Moscow.
