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The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) calls for Russia’s deportation of Ukrainian children to be recognized as genocide. The corresponding resolution was adopted during the January 25 meeting. How the fourth day of the PACE winter session went, FREEDOM correspondent Oleg Borisov told from Strasbourg.
The adoption of a resolution on the situation of Ukrainian children is the main topic of today’s PACE work. It was unanimously supported by all 85 delegates present.
The resolution concerns all Ukrainian children, since Russian aggression has affected all young Ukrainians. The main focus is on children who were subjected to illegal deportation by Russia. PACE recognized this crime as genocide. The resolution is also important – it launches international mechanisms to return children to their homeland.
The discussion of the resolution was not easy, since the Europeans had to explain and prove with examples why the deportation of children is a war crime. The First Lady of Ukraine Elena Zelenskaya addressed the delegates online, who elaborated on these aspects and told the story of a guy from Mariupol.
“An orphan boy lived in Mariupol. Together with other pupils of his orphanage, he saw with his own eyes the destruction of the city and its inhabitants. Then he was deported to Russia, and there, in a foreign land, he turned 18 years old. He should have already received a summons to join the Russian army. Cynicism of the highest degree is to kidnap a child, destroy his city, and then drive him into the ranks of the invaders,” said Elena Zelenskaya.
In the draft version, the resolution had 18 points. After discussion and voting on amendments, there may be more of these items in the final document.
During the discussion, a running thread was that the main source of war crimes against Ukraine is Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Separately, the resolution emphasizes the importance of the international arrest warrant for Putin and the commissioner [under the President of the Russian Federation] for children’s rights Lvova-Belova. This is also a very important point, which suggests that Putin is a war criminal,” said Alexey Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian PACE delegation.
As part of hearings, at sessions, events, meetings, and simply in conversations on the sidelines of PACE, there is a lot of talk about the criminal war of the Putin regime against Ukraine. Representatives of the Ukrainian delegation talk about massive missile attacks and their consequences, about how Ukrainian soldiers defend every meter of Ukrainian land, and how the Ukrainian people in general resist Russian aggression.
The head of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE, Maria Mezentseva, at a meeting with delegates, explained with facts why Ukraine so needs German long-range TAURUS missiles and why more air defense systems are needed.
PACE Vice-President Elena Khomenko said that she personally communicates with the PACE President and the assembly delegates to convey information about Russian atrocities on the territory of Ukraine.
“Here in the assembly, we hold various events to talk to our partners – the members of the assembly, who represent 46 countries – about the problems that our children face. Russia deported 19,546 children. This is the number of children we can talk about, which we have registered in the form of cases. But we know this figure could be much higher,” she said.
The PACE winter session continues. Delegates are developing new cases in support of Ukraine – this includes military support, sanctions policy towards the Russian Federation and its allies, and the restoration of Ukraine. Moreover, the restoration of Ukraine and the transfer of Russian frozen assets will be the main topics of the spring session of PACE.
Let us remind you that the current PACE winter session is taking place in Strasbourg (France) from January 22 to 26. It is planned to adopt a number of important resolutions in support of Ukraine. Thus, on January 25, a debate took place on the topic “The situation of children in Ukraine.” As a result, a resolution was unanimously supported in which PACE recognized the deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia as genocide and called on countries to assist in the return of young Ukrainians to their homeland, as well as to bring to justice those responsible for this crime.
On January 24, the Azerbaijani delegation suspended its work in PACE.
In addition, new resolutions in support of Ukraine are being developed at the winter session, which will be voted on at the PACE summer session. For example, a resolution on the report of a member of the Ukrainian delegation, Evgenia Kravchuk, “Countering the destruction of cultural identity during war and peace,” on sanctions policy.
