The Verkhovna Rada adopted as a basis the draft law on the protection of the rights of deported Ukrainian children

On November 21, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading the draft law No. 9495 on amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Childhood” regarding the protection of the rights of deported and forcibly displaced children, Iryna Gerashchenko, a People’s Deputy from the “European Solidarity” faction, reported.

The document was supported by 248 deputies.

The parliamentarian noted that the draft law clarifies the concepts of deportation and forced transfer of children:

• Deportation of a child – illegal transfer of a child to the territory of the aggressor state or its allies without the consent of the child and his legal representatives.

• Forced transfer – transfer of a child from the territory of Ukraine to the temporarily occupied territories or the aggressor state without his consent.

The procedure for the return, reintegration and adaptation of deported children will be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers.

According to official Ukrainian data, more than 20,000 Ukrainian children ended up in Russia and the occupied territories during the war. Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, assumed that in total, Russia illegally removed about 150,000 children from Ukraine. Darya Gerasimchuk, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Children’s Rights, calls the number “several hundred thousand children, that is, somewhere between 200-300 thousand.”

As of November 12, Ukraine was able to return 1,002 children from the territory of the Russian Federation and temporarily occupied lands, said Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of committing war crimes – forcible deportations and displacement of the population, including children, from the occupied territories of Ukraine.