&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "'Largest state abduction operation in history': UN demands Russia return thousands of captive Ukrainian children")
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday (Dec 3) urged Russia to immediately and without conditions return the Ukrainian children "forcibly transferred". Member states voted 91 to 12 in favour of a resolution demanding their immediate and unconditional return. Meanwhile, 57 countries abstained from voting, and Russia rejected the move outright. The resolution "demands that the Russian Federation ensure the immediate, safe and unconditional return of all Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred or deported." It also urges an end to the indoctrination of Ukrainian children.
Largest state abduction operation in history
The resolution calls on Moscow to "cease, without delay, any further practice of forcible transfer, deportation, separation from families and legal guardians, change of personal status, including through citizenship, adoption or placement in foster families, and indoctrination of Ukrainian children."
Ukraine says at least 20,000 children have been taken since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Only about 1,850 have made it back. Mariana Betsa, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, told the assembly that Russia is carrying out "the largest state abduction operation in history," and that "there will be no just peace in Ukraine without the immediate unconditional return of our children back home."
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Moscow's defence
Russia, meanwhile, insists it moved some children to safety from active combat zones. Its deputy UN envoy, Maria Zabolotskaya, dismissed the resolution as "full of mendacious accusations," arguing that votes in favour only fuel division. "Each vote for the resolution is a support for lies, war, and confrontation. Every voice against is a vote for peace," she insisted.
The vote comes as the United States tries to get Russia and Ukraine to agree to US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war.
