The Russian authorities took several thousand children out of the annexed Kherson region of Ukraine. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Marat Khusnullin.
According to him, the children were "offered" to leave for the territory of Russia because of the constant shelling. “We have several thousand children already in other regions of Russia, resting in rest homes, children's camps,” Khusnullin said.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that now about 500 people “leave” the Kherson region every day. The Russian authorities claim that this is happening on a voluntary basis, but Ukraine and the UN say that this is a kidnapping as part of the forced relocation and deportation of Ukrainians.
In early August, Russian pro-Kremlin media reported that about 3.2 million Ukrainian refugees had arrived in Russia since the start of the war. However, according to Civic Assistance, this number is several times overestimated . In addition, the NGOs emphasize that in the first six months of 2022, 105,639 people who fled or forcibly displaced from Ukraine received Russian citizenship, and 184,385 people received Russian citizenship in the same period last year.