Russia has returned six children to Ukraine with the help of Qatari mediators, Russian state media reported Wednesday.
A video shared by the state-run TASS news agency showed the Qatari Ambassador in Moscow Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani shaking hands with the children, ages six to 17, at Qatar’s embassy. According to TASS, representatives from Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights were also in attendance.
Since July 2023, Qatar has helped bring back scores of Ukrainian children taken to Russia and occupied territories during the war. Kyiv believes Moscow has illegally taken more than 19,000 Ukrainian children since the full-scale invasion, accusations that the Russian authorities deny.
Fewer than 400 children have been returned to Ukraine so far. And last month, Kyiv, through Qatari mediators, passed Moscow a list of 561 children whose return Ukrainian authorities are seeking.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of unlawfully deporting children from Ukraine.