THE UN Committee on the Rights of the Child today urged Russia to end the forcible removal of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine in violation of international law and return them to their families.

Kiev claims that 20,000 children have been kidnapped from Ukraine and taken to Russia without the consent of families or guardians and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has ordered the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of illegal displacement, a charge the Kremlin denies.

In its report on Russia, the UN commission states that Moscow must provide information on the exact number of children displaced from Ukraine and their location so that they can be identified and sent back.

Moscow, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has rejected the accusations, saying its priority was to protect vulnerable children from the war zone.

The UN commission also says that Russia must ensure that no child should lose their Ukrainian nationality and that their identity, name and family ties should be protected.

Last March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, on charges of illegal deportation of children from Ukraine.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor said Russia had taken “at least hundreds” of children from orphanages and institutions in the occupied territories of Ukraine and that many had been given up for adoption.

The Kremlin has dismissed the ICC’s accusations as “outrageous and unacceptable”.