Russia, Ukraine begins nine children repatriation after Qatar intervention

The Russian and Ukrainian governments have begun the return of nine children, in the latest humanitarian exchange between both countries, to reunite them with their families amid the ongoing conflict

This transfer was agreed upon following mediation by Qatar, an intermediary between both warring countries, which has been involved in similar negotiations since the start of the full-scale war in February 2022.

The Russian commissioner for children, Maria Lvova-Belova, who disclosed this development on Thursday, revealed that six boys and one girl, aged six to 16, were being returned to their relatives in Ukraine.

“Most of the children lived in Russia with close relatives, mainly with their grandmothers. One boy, aged 16, who had been left without parental care since birth, was in the Aleshkinsky orphanage. His brother took custody of the child,” she explained.

“The children’s stories are very different, some are especially dramatic. The parents of one 12-year-old boy were divorced, and this year his mother died. Now the boy will go to his father in Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Lvova-Belova, on Wednesday, noted that Qatari mediation had also facilitated the repatriation of two young Russian boys, aged seven and nine, from Ukraine.

According to her, the older boy, after living with his father and grandmother in Ukraine since 2019, was being reunited with his mother, while the younger boy was returning to his father following the death of his mother, who had taken him to Ukraine in 2020

It was gathered that about 20,000 Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians since the war began.

These actions have been described as war crimes, meeting the U.N. treaty definition of genocide.
However, Moscow objected to the claim saying it has protected vulnerable children from the war zone.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of Lvova-Belova and President Vladimir Putin related to the abduction of Ukrainian children.
Russia, in response, described the warrants as “outrageous and unacceptable”.