The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has estimated that at least 7,000 Ukrainian citizens are missing throughout the country as a result of the war, which began more than eight months ago on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It is true that this figure cannot be considered as exact, because in war conditions «it is impossible to determine certain numbers», the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense, Anna Malyar, admitted at a press conference.
«Commanders, who must provide all data on dead and missing persons, are actively involved in combat operations. And this information, firstly, is sometimes transmitted late and, secondly, sometimes it is physically impossible to determine precisely,» she has pointed out.
On the other hand, the National Resistance Center – a governmental body promoted by Kiev in March after the Russian invasion – has raised the number of Ukrainian minors forcibly deported to Russian territory to 10,000.
«They are taken for ‘rehabilitation’ to children’s camps in Russia, after which they are not returned to their parents. This situation is necessary for the Kremlin to force parents to leave their homes in search of their children,» reads a report by the above-mentioned agency.
Thus, after leaving their homes, the children’s parents cannot return because of the martial law imposed by Russia in those territories it recently annexed based on the results of a series of referendums that the international community calls illegitimate.
In addition, Ukrainian authorities have evidence that the forcibly deported minors are sent to regions such as Leningrad or Volgograd, in western Russia, but also to more remote parts of Russia, such as Novosibirsk or Tyumen, in the center of the country.
