UN terms accusations that Moscow forces take Ukrainian children forcibly to Russia for adoption as 'credible'
The United Nations said that accusations that Moscow's forces had taken children from Ukraine to Russia for adoption were "credible". Ilze Brands Kehris, the assistant UN secretary-general for human rights, expressed concern that the Russian authorities had adopted a simplified procedure to grant Russian citizenship to children without parental care and these children would be eligible for adoption by Russian families.
Geneva: The United Nations on Wednesday said that accusations that Moscow's forces had taken children from Ukraine to Russia for adoption were "credible", reported AFP. Russia allegedly took children from Ukraine for adoption as part of larger-scale forced relocations and deportations.
"There have been credible allegations of forced transfers of unaccompanied children to Russian occupied territory, or to the Russian Federation itself," Ilze Brands Kehris, the assistant UN secretary-general for human rights, told the Security Council, as quoted by the news agency.
Brands Kehris expressed concern that the Russian authorities had adopted a simplified procedure to grant Russian citizenship to children without parental care and these children would be eligible for adoption by Russian families. She also accused Russia of running a "filtration" operation as Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territories were subjected to human rights violations.
The UN assistant secretary-general for human rights told a Security Council meeting that during filtration, Russian forces subjected people to body searches and sometimes even forced nudity. Brands Kehris further alleged that during filtration procedures, their mobile devices were searched and their fingerprints were taken.
She added that some Ukrainians who were suspected to be close to the Ukraine government or military were tortured and forcibly sent to penal colonies and other detention centres. Meanwhile, Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya refuted these allegations. He termed these allegations"unfounded".
Nebenzya added that Ukrainians were fleeing the country to save themselves from the "criminal" regime. Notably, Russia started its military operation in Ukraine on February 24 this year.
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