NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Thursday that attempts to forcibly return deportees to Russia would be another battle on the front lines.
“This is a difficult procedure that will require intermediary countries or international institutions that will allow us to bring people back. I want to note that this will also be a war,” said Mikhail Podoliak. “After the war, there will be a war to bring back our people.”
FILE – Marianna Vishegirskaya stands in front of a maternity hospital affected by the shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 (AP Photo / Mstyslav Chernov, File)
PUTIN SAYS IT IS “UNNECESSARY” TO storm MARIUPOL once and for all, sets a blockade
In the eight weeks since the Russian invasion began, countless reports have been circulating that Ukrainian citizens have been transported to Russia against their will.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova – who investigates allegations of human rights abuses – joined Telegram on Thursday to report that a group of teenagers from the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk had been forcibly deported to Russia after their parents they were killed in the war.
Denisova further said last week that 400 Ukrainians, including 145 children, had been detained in a fenced camp near the Russian city of Penza, which had previously been an ammunition depot for Soviet chemical bombs after World War II.
Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boychenko also warned earlier this month that about 31,000 residents of the partially besieged city had been deported with weapons to Russian “filtration camps”.
But the presidential adviser on Thursday suggested the figure could actually be much higher, saying 100,000 Donetsk residents had been deported.
A resident examines a damaged apartment building in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Saturday. (AP / Alexey Alexandrov)
THE BATTLE IN MARIUPOL RUNS THOUSANDS WOUNDED, AN EMPLOYEE IN UKRAINE CALLS IT A “KEY MOMENT” IN THE WAR
“They will not give us objective information that, for example, out of 100,000 deported from Mariupol, Volnovakha and other regions of the Donetsk region, only five percent wanted to go to Russia, and the rest were forcibly deported there,” he said. , translated by the Ukrainian government.
Podoliak claims that Russia has a history of “relocating” citizens of nations who invade in an attempt to “separate them from their homeland.”
The adviser warned that Russia would claim that these people had immigrated voluntarily.
“In terms of propaganda, the Russians will lie to the whole world,” he added.
Podoliak said legally verified lists should be drawn up to identify every person who has been deported to Russia.
Ukrainian troops were riding in an armored combat vehicle on Tuesday as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continued in an unknown location in eastern Ukraine. (Press Service of the Ukrainian Land Forces / Distribution via REUTERS)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
The adviser said there would have to be an international effort to return deportees safely, with representatives of international organizations meeting with everyone.
“This is a completely legal procedure to get them back,” he added.
Add Comment