Russia is kidnapping children in Ukraine, says US embassy
- The allegations that 2,389 children were illegally taken across the border come amid reports of civilians being forcibly relocated to distant parts of Russia
- The mayor of the besieged city of Mariupol compared the ‘kidnappings’ to the actions of the Nazis during World War II
The US embassy accused Russia of “kidnapping” thousands of Ukrainian children as local officials alleged Russian troops are forcing deportations of civilians as they bombard eastern cities.
“According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Russian forces have illegally removed 2,389 Ukrainian children from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts to Russia,” the US embassy in Kyiv tweeted on Tuesday.
“This is not assistance. It is kidnapping,” they said.
On Monday, Ukraine accused Russia of forcing Ukrainians in the besieged city of Mariupol into Russia, Insider previously reported.
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Ukrainian city of Mariupol descends into despair with over 2,000 people killed since start of war
Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun said on Sunday that those trapped in Mariupol were taken across the border against their will.
“They’re taking Ukrainian citizens, sending them through what are called filtration camps, and then relocating them to distant parts of Russia to work for free,” Sovsun told Times Radio.
“This is the logic of Nazi Germany.”
Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s human rights spokeswoman, also alleged that Ukrainians were being “sent by rail to various economically depressed cities in Russia”.
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Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko also compared the “kidnappings” to the work of the Nazis during World War II.
“What the occupiers are doing today is familiar to the older generation, who saw the horrific events of World War II when the Nazis forcibly captured people,” he told CNN on Saturday.
The reports of forced removals have not yet been independently verified, though Russian state news agency TASS claimed that millions are asking to be moved into Russia.
