UN General Assembly demands that Russia return Ukrainian children: who voted against the resolution

The UN General Assembly has demanded that Russia ensure the immediate, unconditional and safe return of all Ukrainian children forcibly displaced or deported by it during the war against Ukraine. The relevant resolution was accepted during a meeting on December 3.

The document was supported by 91 countries. 57 countries abstained, including China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, India, and others.

Twelve countries voted against the resolution. They are Belarus, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cuba, Congo, Eritrea, Iran, Mali, Nicaragua, Niger, Russia, Sudan, and Sudan.

The General Assembly also draws attention to the fact that Ukrainian children receive Russian citizenship under a simplified system, they are illegally adopted, and the whereabouts of some illegally displaced children have not been established at all. There are also facts of children being separated from their families and attempts at "indoctrination" – the imposition of Russian identity. All of this is a direct violation of international law. The document calls on the Russian Federation to immediately stop these actions.

The document was presented by Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Mariana Betsa. She emphasized that the resolution is not about politics, but about the moral obligation of the international community to bring every child home.

"Our children were killed. Our children were wounded. Our children were tortured and raped. Our children were kidnapped and deported by Russia, which is a gross violation of international law," Betza said.

According to her, Russia has deported at least 20,000 Ukrainian children to date. So far, Ukraine has managed to return more than 1,850 of them.

Betza noted that the Russian authorities are trying to "erase the identity of Ukrainian children and replace it with hostile propaganda" by taking away the Ukrainian language, literature and history, banning books and persecuting teachers and parents. Children are being forced to "repeat the lies about Ukraine as a Nazi state," and the process of "military training and ideological processing" is being carried out even in the so-called children's armies.

• on June 2, during talks in Istanbul, the Russian delegation recognizedthe Russian Federation abducted Ukrainian children.
• With the assistance of Melania Trump, eight children managed to reunite with their families.
• on November 13, Zelensky said that Ukraine had managed to set up there are hundreds of places in Russia where Ukrainian children are being held. Every day we manage to find more and more of them.