Ombudsman: Occupiers open criminal case against 14-year-old deported Ukrainian girl not to return her home

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian parliamentary commissioner for human rights, said:

Pictures of a 14-year-old Ukrainian girl deliberately held captive by Russian authorities were presented during a UN Security Council meeting. When the Ukrainian authorities started to deal with the issue of her return, Russia opened a criminal case against her.

Lubinets said that the Russian authorities were holding the girl and were not going to release her until the end of the trial, and thus were holding her hostage.

Lubinets said that the situation is extremely cynical: the girl's mother is in Ukraine and is looking for her child, but the Russians, knowing this, invent a criminal case and use it as an excuse not to return the Ukrainian girl.

According to Lubinets, there is a need for the UN not only to express its concern on this issue, but also to develop an effective mechanism for the return of Ukrainian children to their homeland. He suggested setting up a special mission that would go to the territory of the aggressor country and pick up the Ukrainian children.