“The peoples of the Latin American countries have a lot of experience in fighting to save children, and Ukraine is counting on their voice in returning home the little Ukrainians who were kidnapped by the Russian occupiers.”, — write: www.president.gov.ua
The peoples of the Latin American countries have a lot of experience in fighting to save children, and Ukraine is counting on their voice in returning home the little Ukrainians who were kidnapped by the Russian occupiers. Daria Zarivna, adviser to the head of the President’s Office and operational director of Bring Kids Back UA, said this during a meeting with members of the parliaments of Latin American countries.
Daria Zarivna spoke about President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative and called on the countries of Latin America to join the joint work. According to her, thanks to the efforts of Bring Kids Back UA, it was possible to return home 1,022 children. At the same time, Ukraine has information about almost 20,000 such cases of deportation or forced displacement.
“I understand that you also had this experience. You were able to transform this experience of pain into a system of establishing justice and were able to heal these wounds of society. We really need your expertise in this and your experience,” said Daria Zarivna.
She noted that the Russians refuse to create humanitarian corridors, change the names of children and forbid them to communicate in Ukrainian. There are also cases of forced mobilization of young residents of the occupied Kherson region.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, spoke about the crimes committed by the Russian occupiers against Ukrainian civilians: torture, rape and murder. The Ombudsman of Ukraine also focused attention on crimes against Ukrainian children and noted that 1,934 children are currently considered missing. He called on the countries of Latin America to help Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression.
“Russia is not fighting against Ukraine. Russia is at war against all civilized democratic countries. If we do not stop this aggression in Ukraine, one day the aggression will reach you,” he said.
Daria Gerasimchuk, the President’s authorized adviser on children’s rights and child rehabilitation, called on the countries of Latin America to spread information about Russian crimes against Ukrainian children.
“Russia wants to steal the voices of the witnesses – those children who lived through it, who know exactly what the Russians told them, how they treated them, and who survived the crimes committed by the occupiers. If our children are so resilient, how can we adults be so slow to react or think about how to punish the guilty?” – said Darya Gerasimchuk.
The meeting was also attended by paramedic Yuliya Paevska (Tyra), veteran Pavlo Naida and pastor Anatoly Raichynets. They talked about the torture that Ukrainians in Russian captivity are going through, and called to unite the efforts of the whole world to support Ukraine.
