Zelenskyy imposes sanctions on Russians involved in abduction of Ukrainian children

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed decrees enacting decisions of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine on sanctions against Russian entities involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children.

Source: a statement on the president's website

Details: According to the statement, the sanctions package applies to 20 individuals and four legal entities involved in the removal of Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and the imposition of Russian ideology on them.

Among them are "children's rights commissioners" from several regions of Russia, heads of departments and agencies responsible for social development, deputies of representative bodies of the Russian Federation, employees of executive authorities of Russia, as well as individuals serving occupation authorities in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

In particular, those sanctioned include:

• Oleksandr Diachenko, head of the Varyag Maritime Training Centre, who in temporarily occupied Crimea conducts propagandistic indoctrination of young people for selection into military educational institutions subordinate to the Federal Security Service of Russia.
• Yurii Mitlenko, the so-called deputy of the Polohy District Council of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, who ensured the forced issuance of Russian IDs to Ukrainians and issued Russian documents to schoolchildren who had reached the age of 14.
• Ihor Telehin, the so-called deputy of the "Kherson Oblast Duma" from the United Russia party, who organised propagandistic and militarised activities for young people in temporarily occupied territories.
• Iryna Shetelia, principal of a school in temporarily occupied Vuhlehirsk in Donetsk Oblast, who was involved in the removal of 130 Ukrainian children to Rostov Oblast.

Sanctions were also imposed on public organisations and military-patriotic clubs that assist in the forced integration of abducted Ukrainian children into Russia's cultural, educational and ideological space.

Quote from Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy: "Bringing those responsible for the abduction of Ukrainian children to justice is one of our priorities. Evil must not go unpunished. We are also implementing additional restrictions against the shadow fleet; there are some interesting targets. This also means further legal consequences based on sanctions. Our partners value our work."

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