Russia must stop the forced deportation of Ukrainian citizens, including children, from the occupied territories.

 

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a press briefing. He called such crimes one of the most horrific phenomena of this war.

 

The American official’s statement was in response to the russian authorities’ admission that they had brought more than 700,000 Ukrainian children to their territory.

 

These figures were published in the report on activities in 2022 by the russian federation Commissioner for Children’s Rights maria lvova-belova.

Matthew Miller explained that the forced displacement of citizens, especially children, has become a central factor in determining the United States government’s position on russia’s crimes against humanity.  He added that the United States government insists that the aggressor country return everyone home.

 

“We continue to call on russia to stop its outrageous actions and return the Ukrainian children. And I would say that we support the need for accountability for these crimes,” the administration official stressed.

 

In March of this year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for russian president vladimir putin and maria levova-belova.  They are suspected of committing the war crime of illegal deportation and transfer of children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to russia.