Russian officials are seeking Ukrainian children for “adoption,” reported Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada (Parliamentary) Commissioner for Human Rights, at a press conference in Ivano-Frankivsk, according to Ukrinform.
“The Russian authorities have started a PR campaign where it has become trendy to steal Ukrainian children… We have started receiving information that representatives of the Russian State Duma, the government, and regional leaders have begun searching for Ukrainian children for so-called ‘adoption,'” Lubinets said.
The case of Maria Lvova-Belova, Children’s Rights Commissioner for the President of the Russian Federation, who “adopted” a Ukrainian child from Mariupol, is the first known public example of Russian crimes, Lubinets said. The next story involved information about Russian State Duma deputy Sergey Mironov, whose family ended up with two Ukrainian children.
“…Here we see a complete and deliberate criminal act involving the abduction of two Ukrainian children. Their last names were changed. Marharyta Prokopenko became Marina Mironova. Her place of birth and birth certificate were altered… As for the boy Illia, who was taken with Marharyta, after he was examined in Moscow and found to have a health condition, we assume that the Mironov family decided to reject him because he is ill. But what happened next with the boy remains unclear… We cannot find out what happened to him and where he was moved,” Lubinets said.
Ukraine is making every possible effort to bring the children home. Negotiations are ongoing with partners to free other Ukrainian minors abducted by the Russians and currently living with families of the occupying authorities.
Cover: Telegram, Maria Lvova-Belova
