The lost children

Russia claims to have taken 700,000 kids from war zone

- Mark Reynolds

SOME 700,000 children from Ukraine have been taken in by Russian authorities since the invasion, officials said yesterday.

The announcement drew global anger and renewed accusations of war crimes, with human rights groups saying the youngsters were effectively "hostages".

While the Kremlin claimed to have given children the "refuge", accused Ukrainian authorities Moscow of breaking international laws by removing them illegally.

Deported

Grigory Karasin, head of the international committee in the Federation Council Russia's upper house of parliament said the country had brought the children from conflict zones in Ukraine.

He said: "In recent years, 700,000 children have found refuge with us, fleeing the bombing and shelling from the conflict areas in Ukraine." Moscow has since claimed its "programme" of bringing children from Ukraine into Russia is to protect orphans and youngsters abandoned in the conflict zone.

But Ukraine condemned the announcement and argued that many children have simply been illegally deported by Russian authorities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said: "The Russian Federation continues to commit its crimes in connection with Ukrainian children."