Among the children that Ukraine demanded to return, orphans from Kherson, including adopted by Sergey Mironov, “Virtsta”

The list of forcibly displaced children, which the Ukrainian side handed over to Russia during today's negotiations in Istanbul, is more than 500 names. Among them there are children who were moved from the Kherson Regional House of the Child to the territory of the Crimea in the fall of 2022, Virtste reports with reference to sources.

According to the publication, among these children - Ilya Vashchenko and Margarita Prokopenko, whom the wife of Russian politician Sergei Mironov took from Ukraine, later adopted the girl. Also in the list are the pupils of the Oleshkino boarding school for children with special needs, who stopped working after the occupation of the city.

As Virtsta clarifies, the list is based on the data of the SBU, guardianship authorities, the police and the Ombudsman office. In many cases, the fact of deportation was established only in the framework of criminal cases.

There are children in the register whose fate is almost known. Among them is Anastasia Tolstokorova, who disappeared with her parents in the first weeks of the war during the shelling of Mariupol. Her grandmother still continues to search.

As the ex-head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Volodymyr Ogryzko explained in a conversation with The Insider, Russia deliberately delays negotiations, avoiding the substantive dialogue, and uses humanitarian topics, such as the issue of returning children, to stop accusations in the International Criminal Court:

“The Russians were not initially interested in a substantial discussion. In order for negotiations to make sense, it was necessary to convey the document they prepared in advance, but they did not. Obviously, this was a conscious decision - in this way they can pull the negotiation process as long as possible. The Ukrainian delegation made it clear that he could not discuss the document that she had just received and did not have time to analyze. Therefore, the political part of the meeting was absolutely ineffective. Progress was only in humanitarian issues, and God forbid that it would be realized. The next meeting will take place, but not soon - Umarov spoke about the end of the month, and this, I think, at best.

As for the topic of returning children, this is a very delicate question. Today, Medinsky allowed himself rude statements - they say, there is no need to arrange a performance for European grandmothers without children. But the subtext is clear: it was the export of children that became the basis for the issuance of an arrest of Putin. Therefore, now Russia is trying to play the advance - to show that they allegedly solve the problem and, perhaps, at the end they say that there are no more Ukrainian children left in the Russian Federation. All this is an attempt to withdraw international accusations. Such a scenario is quite likely. ”

Earlier, the journalist of The Economist Oliver Carroll, citing sources, said that Medinsky reacted to mention the Ukrainian delegation about children with the phrase: “Do not arrange an idea for childless European old women.” According to him, the delegations did not shook hands and no steps to resolve the conflict were taken.

Medinsky also commented on the discussion of the return of Ukrainian children. He claims that Russia first received a list from Ukraine, which indicates 339 names. According to him, the number of "stolen" children, which was called earlier, is significantly overstated.

“It sounded that one and a half million children were abducted. Then - 200 thousand. Now the official figure is 20 thousand. From the topic of abduction of children, a show was arranged. In fact, we are talking about dozens of children. There is not a single stolen. There are saved children from the war zone, and we are looking for parents. If they are, we are returning, ”he said.

According to him, the previous list presented by Ukraine included 150 children who later ended up in Germany, although claims were made to Russia.

According to two Ukrainian officials, in the negotiations in Istanbul, the Russian side proposed to return to Ukraine ten children taken to Russia until July 10. It is reported by Axios. The magazine also notes that the Russian conditions for the end of the war have not changed: the Mirny Memorandum transmitted by the Ukrainian delegation contains the previous demands of Moscow. The document, as one of the Ukrainian representatives said, again says about the need to withdraw Ukrainian troops from the territories that Russia claims.

Commenting on the proposal for the return of ten children, Ukrainian officials emphasized that this is only a small part of the total number of minors, who, according to Kyiv, continue to be held in Russia.