In Ukraine, 2,021 children gone missing since war-start

A total of 2,021 children are considered missing in Ukraine amid the ongoing war.

That’s according to the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, who reported the stats via Telegram on the occasion of the International Day of Missing Children.

According to the ombudsman, this day aims to draw public attention to the problem and to the rules that will help prevent children from going missing as with the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, the issue has become “even more painful for Ukraine”.

"Illegal deportations, abduction of children by the Russians, the chaos that is taking place in the temporarily occupied territories... All this only exacerbates the problem and increases the number of missing children," noted Lubinets.

He recalled that any disappearance of a child should be immediately reported to the police, and in the event of a violation of the child's rights, appeals should be filed with the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights at e-mail: hotline@ombudsman.gov.ua or 0800501720 (hotline).

As reported, the International Day of Missing Children has been marked on May 25 since 2002 at the initiative of the European Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children.