More than 13,500 Ukrainian citizens have managed to leave Russia since July through a humanitarian corridor established in the Sumy border region in northeastern Ukraine, the Kiev government announced on Friday.
Among those who managed to return to Ukraine via the corridor in the Sumy area were 1,653 children, the Ukrainian Ministry of Reintegration said, according to the French agency AFP.
While most residents of towns and villages captured by Russian forces since the invasion began in February 2022 have fled to other parts of Ukraine or abroad, thousands have remained behind.
According to UN data, more than a million Ukrainians have sought refuge in Russia since the start of hostilities with Kiev.
Kiev accuses Moscow of bringing around 20,000 Ukrainian children to Russia, prompting the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges.
Moscow rejects the accusations and insists it wants to protect children from the fighting.
According to Kiev, only about 400 children have been repatriated to Ukraine so far.
In recent months, Ukrainian authorities have organized several operations to evacuate civilians and children from areas close to the front line in the face of a Russian military offensive.
The exact number of civilian and military casualties resulting from Russia’s war against Ukraine is unknown, but several sources, including the UN, admit that it will be very high.
Source: DN
