Foreign Ministry: Ukrainians asked Russia to help return children taken to the EU

Dozens of Ukrainian citizens who live in the European Union have contacted the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN with a request for help in returning children taken away by the authorities of EU countries. The head of the department for humanitarian cooperation and human rights of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grigory Lukyantsev, spoke about this on Channel One.

“Since April 2023, several dozen Ukrainian mothers and families have approached the Permanent Mission of Russia to the UN in New York with a request to provide them with assistance in returning their children… Those who applied openly said that the Ukrainian side hinted to them that they had some kind of problem political dimension” – said Lukyantsev (quote from RIA Novosti).

He explained that Russian diplomats are making efforts to consider each case.

First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Dmitry Polyansky previously spoke about this problem. Thus, in April, he spoke about the receipt of a large number of requests, including from Ukrainian refugees who asked for help in returning children who had been taken away by the services of EU countries. He called the taking of children from refugees a systemic European problem. At the same time, the Russian side is trying to help despite the fact that the problem does not directly concern it, Polyansky added.