Russia and Ukraine have agreed to exchange children who were separated from their families during the ongoing conflict between the two nations. The agreement was announced on Wednesday by a senior official involved in the negotiations.
The talks were held with the mediation of Qatar, and according to Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner, Moscow will take in 19 children while sending 29 back to Ukraine. The Qatari government is overseeing the lists of children slated for the planned swap.
This was the first in-person negotiation of this kind between Moscow and Kiev, and comes after the International Criminal Court (ICC) accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova of forcing the deportation and transfer of minors in the context of the Ukraine conflict. Moscow dismissed the ICC allegations as politically motivated and a misrepresentation of their actions.
Last week, Kiev claimed to have discovered over 160 children “kidnapped by Russia” living safely in Germany, most of whom had entered the country with their parents or legal guardians. Lvova-Belova argued that this news calls into question Kiev’s “systemic myth” regarding the whereabouts of the young children, as many flagged by Ukraine as supposed Russian victims turn out to be with their families.
