The head of the EC von der Leyen wanted to convene a conference on “deported” Ukrainian children

BRUSSELS, 24 Mar – The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that she intends to organize a conference on “deported” Ukrainian children together with Poland.

The pre-trial chamber of the ICC, whose jurisdiction Russia does not recognize, on March 17 issued a warrant for the “arrest” of Russian President Vladimir Putin and children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. The ICC charges the Russian side with, among other things, the alleged “deportation” of children whom the Russian authorities rescued from Ukrainian shelling and took out of the combat zone to safe areas.

Lvova-Belova later assessed the issued warrant for “arrest” in the context of the situation in Ukraine and stated that she was ready to work further. According to her, “it’s great that the international community appreciated that work to help children.”

Commenting on the “initiative” of the ICC, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said that the very raising of the question of the decision of the ICC on the “arrest” of the president is unacceptable, Moscow does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court. He added that any of his decisions are void from the point of view of law.

Moscow has repeatedly refuted the allegations of Western politicians and the media about the “war crimes” of the Russian military. Moscow also noted that many international organizations turn a blind eye to Kyiv’s actions against the civilian population of Donbass since 2014.

On Monday, Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, said that fifteen children who had previously been evacuated to Russia were reunited with relatives from Ukraine. According to her, today 380 children are in families in 19 regions of the Russian Federation. These are children who have been in social institutions for a long time. None of them was separated from their parents, and if legal representatives are found, everything will be done immediately to reunite these families. Lvova-Belova also noted that Russia is ready to work out all appeals on the facts of separation of children from relatives, but “no official appeal has been received.”