The Ukrainian boy, 7 years old, who can be seen here at the Qatari Embassy in Moscow, is the first child to be released. Photo: Qatar' ;s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Four Ukrainian children who were taken to Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine are to be returned to their families as part of a deal brokered by Qatar after months of secret negotiations.
The children's return is a small but potentially significant breakthrough in the toxic saga that led to Vladimir Putin being indicted on war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Qatari officials said Ukraine had reached out. they were asked to mediate the issue with Russia.
The tiny, oil-rich emirate has recently mediated in several international disputes, including a prisoner swap between the United States and Iran.
Children range from a two-year-old boy to a 17-year-old. girl, will go home to Ukraine through third countries, including Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Qatar.
Ukraine accused Russia of forcibly removing about 20,000 Ukrainian children and taking them to Russia and subjected them to a process of “Russification,” during which they were stripped of their Ukrainian identity.
It is believed that the Ukrainian children were adopted by Russian families or placed in foster care. Those who escaped complained of mistreatment and intimidation by Russian officials.
Some were orphaned by the invasion, while others were persuaded to go to summer camps in places like Russian-occupied Crimea, where they came from. left. not return to your parents.
A boy sits next to his grandmother (left) and Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova after he was handed over to Qatari diplomats. Photo: Qatar Foreign Ministry
One 16-year-old boy told The Telegraph how he was sent to a holiday camp in Crimea, but after two weeks Russian officials said he would not be allowed to return home.
“They told us: you won’t go home. Your parents don't need you. You will have to live in Russia. We will send you to an orphanage or to the army,” Vitaly told The Telegraph in July. He said he was beaten if he did not stand at attention while the Russian national anthem was played.
Illegal deportations led the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant in March for President Putin, as well as his Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.
Moscow insists on removing children from war-torn areas of Ukraine for their own safety.
Ms. Lvova-Belova called out allegations of abduction of Ukrainian children was a “lie”, but refused to say how many children from the occupied Ukrainian territories ended up in Russia.
She is the mother of ten children. five biological and five adopted. Married to an IT engineer turned Orthodox priest.
Until now, the four children who returned to Ukraine were in the Qatari embassy in Moscow, as the Qatari government mediated the deal between Russia and Ukraine.
< p>The Qataris described the return of the children as a “positive step and gesture of goodwill” between Kiev and Moscow.
“We understand that today’s breakthrough is only the first step, but we are encouraged by the commitment and openness shown by both sides throughout the entire process,» said Lolwa Al Khater, Qatar's Minister of State for International Cooperation.
«We sincerely hope that this will lead to more initiatives aimed at de-escalating tensions and building trust between the two sides.»< /p>
It is hoped that he will be able to mediate between Israel and Hamas regarding the possible release of 200 hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, is in Qatar, where he called deadly attacks carried out by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel last week, a «historic victory.»
On Friday, Antony Blinken, US Foreign Secretary, State Department visited Qatar and praised the «urgency that Qatar brings» to the efforts negotiate the release of the hostages.
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