Russia claims it wants to return five Ukrainian children by end of June

Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, has announced that the Russian Federation will hand over five of the Ukrainian children on the list that Ukraine provided to Russia at the Istanbul talks by the end of this month.

Source: Lvova-Belova at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, as quoted by Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti

Quote: "We can say that five people on this list were already in the works and are ready to go back to Ukraine."

Details: Lvova-Belova said the children would be reunited with their loved ones in Ukraine by the end of June.

Meanwhile, according to Lvova-Belova, Russia is also drawing up its own list of Russian children who are in Ukraine. She noted that they plan to hand over the list "during the next round of negotiations".

Quote: ‘We also have children in Ukraine who need to be reunited with their Russian families. We currently have eight children on the list who are in EU countries; they were evacuated there from Ukraine, and their parents are in Russia. And we currently have about 10 people in Ukraine with whom we are also negotiating a return."

Background: 

• On 2 June, during talks in Istanbul, the Ukrainian delegation officially provided Russia with a list of Ukrainian children whom it should return.
• Andrii Yermak, Head of the President’s Office, said: "We are talking about hundreds of children whom Russia has illegally deported, forcibly moved or detained in occupied territories. This is the first test of Russia’s sincerity. We await their response. The ball is in Russia’s court."
• On 4 June, Maria Lvova-Belova confirmed that Russia had begun processing the lists of Ukrainian children provided during the Istanbul negotiations.

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