Malligan began a column with a reminder that the war in Ukraine occupies a central place in the information agenda of Great Britain. She noted that “behind the resonant news about diplomatic maneuvers and dress codes of the oval cabinet, a quiet but cruel story” and moved to the topic of illegal deportation of Ukrainian children in the Russian Federation.
The actress said that the Russians send stolen children either to military camps or transferred to other people's families. She also noted that the Russians say to the children that their parents “but want to see them that their language is prohibited”, thereby forcing them to forget about their origin and trying to rewrite their identity. Thus, parents cannot find their children, and children grow up with faith that they were abandoned.
The star emphasized that there is no doubt that “this strategic erasing of the identity of Ukrainian children is a war crime, and its consequences are destructive.” She added that about 1 million children currently live in the temporarily occupied Russian territories and their future is under threat.
Referring to the data of the report “Return every child”, which was prepared by the British organization War Child UK, Save Ukraine and Human Security Centre, she quoted the words of a 16-year-old girl from the Kherson region, who managed to return home. She said that in the Russian Federation they treated them not as with children, but as with soldiers.
The actress recalled that more than four of the ten returned Ukrainian children were subjected to systematic military propaganda in the Russian Federation, and the third part of the children stated that they were sent to the camps and forced to undergo military training, including shooting combat cartridges, collecting and disassembling machines, dig trenches and throw grenades. Some of these children were 13 years old.
Malligan noted that all Ukrainian children stolen by Russia are injured and need specialized support. She added that the organization of War Child with which it works can provide such support to Ukrainian children to help recover after injuries, but this help is impossible if Russia is allowed to keep these children as potential recruits.
The star called on world political leaders to strengthen the voices of Ukrainian children and do everything to immediately return them to Ukraine.
Context
By The data of the Ukrainian National Information Bureau for Prisoners of War deported and missing, Russia deported or forcibly moved more than 19 thousand minor Ukrainians since the beginning of a full -scale invasion.
March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant The illegitimate President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the Russian children's ombudsman Maria Lvovo-Belova for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
On April 27, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution in which the deportation of Ukrainian children was called genocide.
The Russian Federation abducted more than 20 thousand Ukrainian children, another 1.5 million can be deported, said Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets in October 2024.
