U.S. Calls On Russia To Stop Crimes Against Humanity, Return Ukraine’s Children

Washington D.C./01.08.23/Turan:  The United States on Monday reiterated its calls on Russia to return Ukraine’s children, as Moscow admitted its possession of 700,000 children from conflict zones, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"One of the worst incidents we have seen in this war is the deportation of Ukrainian civilians to Russia, including civilians who have been forcibly separated from their families," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily briefing when responding to TURAN's  questions.

Earlier on Monday Russian children's commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova was quoted as saying that more than 700,000 Ukrainian children had been taken from Ukraine to Russia since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Miller said, Moscow's policy to forcibly separate children from their families "was an important consideration in Secretary Blinken’s determination that Russian forces and officials have committed crimes against humanity. "We call, as we have before, for Russia to stop those abusive actions and return Ukraine’s children."

According to Miller, Washington "supports accountability" for these crimes. When asked if the U.S. was going to share your information on this very matter with the ICC, the spokesperson said: "We support accountability through the ICC and a number of mechanisms.  But consistent with the ICC’s confidential treatment of requests with respect to any specific request for information, we will keep those details confidential."

Alex Raufioglu