Maria Zakharova, in the best traditions of Russian propaganda, accuses Kyiv of terrorism and the killing of innocent children, forgetting that Ukraine is under daily Russian missile and bomb attacks. Such manipulations by Russian officials caused large-scale aggression against Ukraine, which led to catastrophic consequences for the Ukrainian nation, in particular for children. Russia deliberately destroys the critical and civil infrastructure of Ukraine — energy and housing facilities, housing stock, cultural, educational and scientific institutions, medical institutions. On July 8 of this year, a Russian missile hit the largest children’s clinic in Ukraine — Okhmatdyt National Children’s Specialized Hospital in Kyiv. As a result, there are dead and injured; hospital buildings were destroyed, unique equipment was damaged. Children with serious illnesses had to be urgently evacuated under fire.
Civilian infrastructure in the border regions of Ukraine is being systematically destroyed. Children are killed and injured by heavy Russian guided air bombs. The valiant Russian army fights with sick children! The Children’s Medical Center is a powerful military facility! The barbarism and cynicism of the Russian regime knows no bounds. By its actions, the Moscow leadership once again confirmed its total disregard for international law and conventional morality. According to the Geneva Conventions, the use of force against medical institutions is a war crime. This is not the first time Russia’s army has destroyed medical facilities with missiles and guided aerial bombs. However, Putin constantly demonstrates the barbaric nature of war, his complete disregard for the opinion of the international community, and his manic desire to seize Ukraine and destroy its people. Destroy everyone. Even small children. Maria Zakharova openly manipulates the favorite theme of Russian classical literature – “a child’s tear” (Fyodor Dostoevsky), broadcasting the “cannibalistic Kyiv’s regime” to a wide audience. To promote cynical speculations, the Russian side uses the main international platforms, in particular, the UN Security Council, where Russia currently presides.
The international community must not allow diplomatic forums and international institutions to be platforms where Russian propaganda dominates. Blaming the “collective West” for the death of Russian children, Maria Zakharova “plays” on the Russian audience, for whom the war in Ukraine looks like a metaphysical confrontation with NATO. For the sake of this mythical struggle, it is necessary to sacrifices, in particular, children, which Russia has been doing for the third year in a row. According to the Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine, during a full-scale Russian aggression, 563 children were killed and 1,477 children were injured (as of July 25, 2024). Russia forcibly deported thousands of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Ukraine. It was one of the most important issue at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine. At the Summit in Switzerland, in June of this year, the issue of the return of children from the TOT was discussed. Ukraine actively cooperates with international structures and countries on this issue. It is also planned to include this issue in the agenda of the second peace summit. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a meeting is planned in Canada in September regarding the exchange of prisoners and the return of children taken to Russia. The war provoked a large-scale humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Children and women make up the majority of Ukrainian refugees. The Ukrainian police evacuate children to safe regions due to endless shelling in the front-line areas. It is extremely difficult for children and elderly people. There are destroyed infrastructure and houses there, people are forced to hide in basements. The cold, the lack of food and drinking water, the lack of medical care and access to education — all this greatly affects the standard of living of Ukrainian children.
One gets the impression that the occupation authorities deliberately hunt for children and teenagers in the TOT. There were many missing children cases. The senseless war is creating a terrible “demographic pit” in Russia, as men of reproductive age are dying en masse in hostilities. Russian society also does not tolerate migrants from the East. Therefore, the removal of children from Ukraine is considered by the Russian authorities as one of the mechanisms for solving the demographic problem of the lack of labor resources. Different child smuggling schemes have been developed in Russia. First, local collaborators try to get information about the child’s place of residence, his/her relatives. Then, in order to take the child to Russia, they use persuasion, pressure or blackmail, saying that a child is going to the rest, on excursions, in the safe place. And then such a child disappears without a trace in Russia. She is transported from place to place to “institutions”, her name, surname, date of birth are changed. And here is a child already with Russian documents, “adopted” by a Russian family. Local supporters of Russia, the military and Russian officials delegated by Moscow, and representatives of various Russian parties and movements seeking to establish their branches in the occupied territories of Ukraine are involved in this process. Ukraine supports the decision of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, due to the forced removal of children. Russian war criminals must be punished for their bloody actions.
Sourse: Aktualne zpravy