Russia acknowledged child abductions during recent peace negotiations; Zelensky remarks on the issue.
New Look, Same Ugly Truth:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky doesn't mince words when talking about the Istanbul negotiations, calling out Russian representatives for dismissing the issue of abducted Ukrainian children as a "joke" and admitting to deporting hundreds of them.
C'mon now, let's get real! Zelensky stretched out his arm and pointed during an online press conference attended by the Kyiv Independent. "These clowns tried to downplay the humanitarian aspect by telling us not to 'put on a show for childless European old ladies'. That's right, they fucking said it!"
The Istanbul peace talks took a turn when Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin and head of Russia's delegation, presented a list of 339 children that Ukraine claims were abducted by Russia and need to be returned. Medinsky denied the allegations, claiming that Russia didn't take the kids by force. Oh, please!
Ukraine has logged over 19,500 cases of children forcibly taken to Russia, Belarus, or occupied territories ever since the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Out of that whopping number, only about 1,300 have been brought back to areas under Ukrainian control. That's just pathetic!
These moves have sparked worldwide outrage, leading to the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in March 2023 over their alleged roles in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
More recently, the European Parliament passed a resolution denouncing the deportations as part of a "genocidal strategy" to eradicate Ukrainian identity and demanded the immediate and unconditional return of all abducted kids.
Zelensky shrugged his shoulders and said, "They told us they'd stolen 20,000 children, and they said it wasn't 20,000 - at most, they said it was a few hundred. Our delegation was offended by this, but honestly, I'm not. I think it's more important not to focus on the numbers but on the fact they admitted to taking children. We believe it's thousands, they say it's hundreds, but what matters is that they acknowledged it."
When it comes down to it, it ain't about the numbers - it's about the facts. And the fact is, they're stealing our kids! Let's make one thing clear: the return of these abducted children is a must before any peace deal can be struck.
- War-and-conflicts continue to dominate the general news, as the ongoing collision between Ukraine and Russia highlights a contentious politics issue – the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children, which is a severe crime-and-justice concern globally.
- The current Istanbul negotiations, clouded by politics and war-and-conflicts, have given rise to a surge in general news coverage, focusing on the criminal act of child abduction and the need for justice in the return of these kidnapped children.
