Estonian politician goes to occupied Mariupol and "fails to see child abduction by Russians"

The MP himself said this in an interview with the Kuku radio station.

Estonian politician and parliamentary candidate of the Estonian right-wing EKRE party Andres Ryd has said that he went to Russian-occupied Mariupol. And he made a number of scandalous statements about it.

Ryd said that he did not see in Mariupol the "evidence" of child abduction that Ukraine, the international community and human rights activists are talking about.

And the second question is, why would anyone from the "liberated Ukrainian territories" go anywhere? On the contrary, those who have left can simply return to the 'liberated territory'," says the Estonian politician, further describing his visit to a school where "well-dressed children were learning to dance a waltz for the prom.

For the most part, the Estonian politician's entire interview was steeped in Russian narratives. Ryd also described how he got into the territory of occupied Mariupol.

According to the politician, it took him five months to obtain a "permit" to enter the Russian-occupied Donetsk region. And he expressed hope that Estonian journalists would visit the Russian-occupied territories more often.

Raida's party said it was not aware of his trip and would discuss the situation.