Ukraine believes that Russia has taken more than 19,000 Ukrainian children since the beginning of Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.
Russia and Ukraine reached a deal through Qatar’s mediation over the exchange of 48 children displaced by the ongoing war between both sides, Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, announced on Wednesday.
The Russian official’s remarks came amid meetings in Doha, with the Qatari side led by Lolwah Al-Khater, the Minister of State for International Cooperation.
The Ukrainian side was represented by Dmytro Lubinets, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Ukrainian Parliament.
A number of children and their families were at the Chedi Hotel, the meetings’ location, where they received a warm welcome from Al-Khater.
Some of the children have special needs and others have lost their parents during the ongoing war.
Speaking to the press in Doha, Lvova-Belova announced that a face-to-face meeting took place for the first time between Russia and Ukraine before reaching the deal.
She said 29 children will head to Ukraine and 19 to Russia, though in separate exclusive remarks to AFP Lubinets said he could not confirm the information.
Lubinets also confirmed to AFP that his delegation also discussed the issue of Ukrainian civilian detainees in Russia and the “potential role of Qatar to be mediator between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on this”.
On the same day of the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that 16 Ukrainian children accompanied by a delegation from the country were “in Qatar for medical, mental, and social recovery.”
“All of them had previously been forcibly deported to Russia, but thanks to our friendly Qatar’s mediation efforts, they have been released,” Zelenskyy said, noting that “thousands” of other Ukrainian children are still in Russia.
He also thanked Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani for helping Ukraine.
“It is heartbreaking to realise that, as time passes, they are growing up apart from their families and homeland. Together, we must make every effort to bring each child home and I thank everyone around the world who is helping us with this difficult task,” he said.
Ukraine believes that Russia took more than 19,000 Ukrainian children since the beginning of Moscow’s invasion in February 2022, with less than 400 returned, according to figures shared by AFP.
However, Russia has repeatedly denied Ukraine’s claims and maintained that it had moved them away from fighting zones for their safety.
On Saturday, 20 Russian and Ukrainian families, including 37 children, arrived in Doha, where they will stay until April 27. During their time in the Gulf state, they will receive medical and psycho-social support.
The reunification process
The reunification of those split by the war was a matter raised during the visit of Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, to Russia in June 2023 and Ukraine in July 2023.
At the time, Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Qatar’s foreign minister, agreed to Ukraine’s request to mediate with Russia on the reunification of Ukrainian minors with their families.
The process involves the identification and verification of the minors’ personal information, coordination with humanitarian organisations, and providing the necessary medical needs.
Qatari representatives then host the minors at Doha’s embassy in Moscow in order to facilitate their safe departure to Ukraine. The minors also receive the needed care from the Russian government.
Qatar announced the first such reunification on October 16, 2023, when it repatriated four Ukrainian children from Russia. The Gulf mediator then reunified six additional Ukrainian children with their families on December 5 of the same year.
The Gulf state then mediated the release of 11 Ukrainian children, including ones with disabilities, held in Russia on February 19.
The following month on March 21, Qatar reunited children with their families and facilitated their safe transfer from Ukraine to Russia via Belarus.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has persisted since February 2022, with at least 10,000 civilians killed in Ukraine according to the United Nations.
Two years on, the war internally displaced 3.7 million people in Ukraine and created six million refugees in Europe, according to the UN.
Qatar has maintained a balanced foreign policy since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, communicating with both sides while repeatedly calling for the need for dialogue to end the conflict.