The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced her intention to organize a conference on the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia during the war, the BBC reports. "This is a terrible reminder of the darkest times in our history. This is a war crime," — she said after the EU summit.
Last week, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the president of Vladimir Putin's Russia and Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on charges of deportation of Ukrainian children.
According to Kyiv, more than 16 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, many of whom are said to have been placed in special institutions and foster families.
Von der Leyen said she would work with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to mobilize international support for their return.
"We know that of the 16 children who were deported, only 200 have returned to date, and these criminal acts fully justify the arrest warrants issued by the ICC," she said. "We are at the beginning of very difficult work and we are committed to bringing together international pressure to take all possible measures to locate these children."
