Latest News

• January 23: Russia is slated to address inquiries from different nations regarding the destiny of Ukrainian children forcibly deported during the session of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on January 23. The UN Committee aims to ascertain the number of children who have been deported either to Russia or within territories occupied by Russia.
• January 22: Russia deported 17 Ukrainian children with disabilities from the Donetsk region to Moscow region. Maria Lovova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights of Russia, stated that the children were transported via a Russian Defense Ministry plane for “rehabilitation” at the “Ogonyok” rehabilitation center near Moscow.
• January 19: A Ukrainian citizen sought assistance from the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine, reporting that he had been forcibly deported by Russian forces from temporarily occupied territories to the territory of the Russian Federation and subjected to involuntary labor. While there, he was compelled to engage in strenuous tasks, including digging trenches, connecting sewers, laying concrete paths, and more. 
• January 15: Only 517 out of approximately 20,000 deported Ukrainian children have been repatriated from Russia and Belarus, reported Ukrainian Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets.
• January 14: During the Davos Forum, Norway officially became a co-chair country for the fourth point of the Peace Formula. Norway will also financially support the activities for the protection of children’s rights for the next three years. Namely, the functioning of the Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights, which deals with helping deported children.
• January 10: Belarus has sent deported children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to train with its army, local state television reported. The message was about 35 children from the Russian-occupied city of Anthracite in eastern Ukraine.
• January 8: BBC’s Russia Service reported that Russia hold deported Ukrainian citizens, primarily adults, in prisons.

Advocacy advances

1. Ukrainian Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets met with the ambassadors of two countries: Natalka Tsmots of Canada and Helena Sand Andersen of Norway to discuss concrete steps to implement the fourth point of the Peace Formula. Namely, the steps and strategy for the return of deported children
2. Ukrainian Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Qatar to Ukraine, Gadi Al-Gajri, on 9 January in Kyiv. They discussed the common strategy of repatriating deported Ukrainian children from Russia and Belarus.

Materials we facilitated

• An article about the history of Ukrainians celebrating Christmas in deportation
  https://espreso.tv/svyato-u-voroga-drugiy-rik-pospil-deportovani-ukrainski-diti-znakhodyatsya-u-rosii
• A press release about Christmas campaign initiated by Where Are Our People? Team about deported Ukrainian children
  https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/news/binary-news-network/pr-army-initiated-a-global-campaign-to-commemorate-ukrainians-deported-to-the-russian-federation
• An article about Russia’s re-education programs directed at deported Ukrainian children
  https://www.pravda.com.ua/columns/2023/12/23/7434260/
• A radio talk with our researcher Vladyslav Havrylov about the prospects of deported Ukrainian children
  https://hromadske.radio/podcasts/my-ie-buly-y-budem-informatsiynyy-maraton/deportatsiia-ditey-ne-ie-kintsem-zlochynu-dali-vidbuvaietsia-militaryzatsiia-ta-rusyfikatsiia-vladyslav-havrylov
• Our researcher Vladyslav Havrylov spoke with a report about Russia’s deportation of Ukrainians at Japan-Ukraine scientific conference
  https://ivinas.gov.ua/novini/yaponskoukrainskyi-spilnyi-doslidnytskyi-proekt-daleki-ta-blyzki-partnery-yaponiia-ta-ukraina-istorychni-peredumovy-vyklyky-ta-perspektyvy.html

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