Zelensky wants UN action against alleged Russian deportations
04:54 | Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky has urged the United Nations to help find a solution to the deportations of thousands of adults and children to Russia, which Ukraine says have taken place since the start of the 11-month war. Zelenski spoke to UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Wednesday.
“The discussion was mostly about our people whom the occupiers deported to Russia,” Zelensky said in his nightly video talk about the conversation he had with Grandi. “These are adults, these are our children. A mechanism is needed to protect and repatriate people and to hold those responsible for the deportations. I am sure that the United Nations institutions can show leadership in resolving this problem.”
Ukraine has been campaigning for months against Russia’s alleged mass deportations of Ukrainians, often to remote Russian areas thousands of kilometers from Ukraine. According to Zelensky, the Russians capture the refugees and force them to take Russian citizenship. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuliba once condemned Russia’s policy as “state-organized child abduction”. Ukrainian human rights lawyers speak of the possible deportation of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
Moscow does not deny that there have been mass movements from Ukraine to Russia since the invasion, but describes them as evacuations, often voluntary. The country denies any suggestion of ill-treatment or illegal intent.