kidnapping of children Ukrainians from Russia is one of the most sensitive issues Kiev has faced since the beginning of war in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court even ordered the arrest of Vladimir Putin for this crime.
With the intention of detaining as many minors as possible, the Ukrainian authorities have ordered the evacuation of all children of 21 cities in Donetsk Oblast affected by the fighting.
The order will imply “the mandatory evacuation of 126 children from 21 villages of the Donetsk region in which the security situation continues to be critical”, reads the official note published by the Ministry of Reintegration.
The evacuation will be carried out by five patrols from the Ukrainian police unit known as the “White Angels”, specialize in relocation to safe areas in armored vehicles of children living in war-affected cities.
THE Evacuated children must be accompanied by at least one parent or legal representative. The state will offer them a place to live, as well as material aid, humanitarian assistance and psychological support, the ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine approved on March 7 a provision allowing the authorities mandatory evacuation children who remain in areas severely affected by the conflict. The situation, although deriving from the desire to give security to the most vulnerable segment of the population, is generating tensions between the authorities and families.
Heartbreak, separation and broken homes
Katerina’s blue eyes fill with tears as she tells how the police forced his nephew to evacuate Avdiivkaa city opposite in eastern Ukraine, where he lives in a basement.
The authorities have ordered the evacuation of all the minors from this ghost town, trapped and bombed by Russia from three sides, and in which no buildings still exist.
“They took my 15 year old nephew“says 64-year-old Katerina, sitting in an underground shelter that opened a few days ago.
“They started the evacuation and took him away. He didn’t want to leave and neither did his mother want to see him leave. His home is his home, even though they lived in a basement,” she complains.
Due to the breakdown of the telephone network, the grandmother he doesn’t know where the teenager is. But he admits it’s better that he’s gone. “I’m even happy. Maybe it’s better there (wherever it is). Here they shoot and you can’t sleep at night,” he says.
Avdiivka Mayor Vitali Barabach said on Monday it still is there are eight children in town, and accuses their parents of “hiding” them.
“We will go look for them“, he promised.
According to Mikhailo Purishev, director of the new reception center for the inhabitants of Avdiivka, the police evacuated two children on Monday.
The 37-year-old man is known for evacuating residents of his hometown of Mariupol, a port city taken by the Russians in May 2022.
It has already established shelters in the worst hotbeds of the war, particularly in Bakhmut.
According to him, there are about 2,000 inhabitants in Avdiivkacompared to the 30,000 who lived there when the Kremlin launched its invasion in February 2022. The city has been on the front lines since 2014 and the start of the war between Ukrainian forces and Moscow-led separatists.
The tragedy at the front
Purishev does not have much patience with the families left in Avdiivka, considering the children “hostages of the parents”. remember the recent death of a five month old baby after a Russian attack and claims that children living in basements “sometimes don’t see the sky for three months”.
In Avdiivka, he is running a new underground shelter with the help of local people and volunteers. A well dug 40 meters deep supplies water for showers and washing machines. There is also a hairdresser.
On the street, apart from the shots of nearby Ukrainian artillery and the barking of dogs, virtually no noise.
Some trucks carry soldiers and the air is thick with the smell of smoke from stove pipes emerging from the basements.
Lyudmila, 66, cuts branches for the stove in the basement where she lives with six other people. She claims to be “constantly tense and scared.”
“Will we survive?” she wonders. “Everyone has lost a lot of weight and become grayer,” she says.
Avdiivka has no ambulance or rescue team.
At the central hospital, the two remaining doctors provide basic care and stabilize seriously injured patients. These are then evacuated by the police or volunteers in the cities furthest from the front.
The only surgeon, Mikhailo Orlov, explains that civilians are injured by shrapnel, mortars and shells.
“He suffers from open traumatic brain injurypenetrating wounds in the chest and abdomen, wounds in the upper and lower limbs,” he points out.
The director of the hospital, Vitali Sitnik, opens the door to one of the abandoned wards, removing a recently broken window. “To think we had put so much effort and money into the renovations” of the facilities, he laments.
Source: EFE
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.