Six Ukrainian children taken to Russia after Moscow's invasion last year - will be reunited with their families. It's the result of a new round of negotiations by Qatari mediators.


Moscow

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

Ukrainian children taken to Russia to be released

This is the third group of Ukrainian children ready to return to their home country. The exchange became possible after a personal request by the Emir of Qatar. Hopefully this is not the last transfer of children. We will try to ensure that more children return to their families in Ukraine. Any negotiations are difficult. They take a lot of time and effort. Thanks to the efforts, these negotiations were successful. And I am grateful to both the Russian and Ukrainian sides. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of kidnapping thousands of children and taking them to its territory. Kyiv has demanded that Western countries facilitate their return. But as Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized last June, Russian representatives took the children out of the conflict zone, saving their lives and health. We evacuated entire orphanages absolutely legally, because the heads of the orphanages were their legal representatives. Moscow never intended to separate children from their parents and will not be against their reunification with their families if the relatives show up. Last September, Russia's Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Bilova reported that there is a communication channel with the Ukrainian authorities. A source for the Reuters news agency clarified that the mechanism was created after several months of secret negotiations that Doha conducted with Moscow and Kyiv. In March this year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Maria Lvova-Bilova as well as President Vladimir Putin. The court suspected them of illegal deportation of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia. Lvova-Bilova was outraged, saying that was how the international community appreciated the work to help the children to get out of the war zone. The children are expected to fly to the Belorussian capital Minsk on Tuesday evening and from there they will travel to Ukraine. Yulia Shapovalova, Al Jazeera, Moscow.

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Ukraine Invasion