Russia began deporting Ukrainian children in occupied Crimea in 2015 – Lubinets

Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, said that Russia's first program of forced deportation of Ukrainian children began in occupied Crimea in 2015.

He said this at the conference "We remember history - we return the territory,” an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to the ombudsman, war crimes with signs of genocide are currently being recorded on the territory of Ukraine: the invaders are forcibly deporting children and massively taking civilian hostages.

"However, Russia has started doing this since in 2014. In particular, the first official program of forced deportation of Ukrainian children began in Crimea in 2015. All this time, we have been shouting that Ukrainian children are already being deported - but the world has been silent, expressing deep concern," he said.

Lubinets also expressed his belief that the war with Russia started from Crimea, and it will end with the liberation of the peninsula.

"For us as citizens of Ukraine, the return of Crimea will mean the end of the de-occupation of our territories illegally captured by Russia. And for the world, this should be the beginning of serious transformations, the initiation of effective mechanisms of influence on the country that has become an aggressor. Because words don't work," the ombudsman emphasized.

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that Ukraine continues the fight for the liberation of Crimea from the Russian occupation.