National Information Bureau identified 5600 children forcibly deported to Russia — Kateryna Pavlichenko
This is only the beginning of such important work - said Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Ekaterina Pavlichenko during a briefing at the Ukraine-Ukrinform Media Center.
“As of today, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been forcibly deported to the aggressor country. According to the National Information Bureau, more than 5600 children who have been forcibly deported to Russia have already been identified. The actual figure is larger. And today the mechanism for the return of these children is being worked out,” said Kateryna Pavlichenko.
According to her, in May, the Ukrainian Task Force started work on the basis of Europol. The task force aims to protect temporarily displaced persons in Europe, as well as in the aggressor countries — Russia and Belarus. The leader of the group is Austria, it includes law enforcement officers from Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Ukraine.
“Today is another meeting of the representatives of the group. In addition to Ukraine, law enforcement officers from Latvia, Estonia and Finland are also invited to it. One of the issues on the agenda of the group is the identification of citizens affected by forced deportation,” said Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Ekaterina Pavlichenko added that according to the results of the participation of representatives of the migration police and international special operations, 12 crimes under article 149 of the Criminal Code were discovered. Ukraine's Trafficking in Persons Act, three of which are child trafficking.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
