Zelensky: 2,000 children returned to Ukraine from occupied territories and Russia

(Patria) - Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, two thousand Ukrainian children have been returned from temporarily occupied territories and from Russia.

Despite this, more than 1.6 million children are still in these territories, writes Ukrainska Pravda.

According to the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, this institution participated in the return of 419 children.

Of this number, 83 children were returned from temporarily occupied territories and from Russia with the support of the State of Qatar, while the return of 19 of them was facilitated by former US First Lady Melania Trump.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that thousands of Ukrainian children are still in Russian captivity.

- Thousands of Ukrainian children are still in Russian captivity and are victims of its crimes every day. But we will not stop until every Ukrainian child returns home - Zelensky stated.

Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated that more than 1.6 million Ukrainian children continue to live in temporarily occupied territories, where they are exposed to propaganda and attempts to erase their identity.

- The educational system there has been turned into a tool of ideological influence. Children are cut off from Ukraine, from the language, from the truth. Every day in deportation or under occupation is a day of lost childhood. A day without a mother tongue, without family, without security - Lubinets said.

Lubinets previously explained that younger children are harder to return from Russia to Ukraine because they are too young to defend their own identity.