MOSCOW. April 4 (Interfax) - Sixteen children evacuated from the special military operation zone to Russia have been reunited with their relatives in Ukraine and other countries, the office of Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova said.
"As of March 29, 2023, 16 children from nine families were reunited with their relatives in Ukraine and other countries with the office's direct participation," says a bulletin on the activities of the children's rights commissioner during the special military operation, published on Tuesday.
Russian foster families have taken in 380 orphans from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, including 22 neglected minors from Mariupol, the bulletin said.
All the adopted children were naturalized by Russia while also remaining citizens of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics or Ukraine, the office said.
Forty children with Ukrainian citizenship are waiting to be reunited with their families in Crimea and Krasnodar Territory, it said.
"Among children taken to Krasnodar Territory on vacation, two are waiting to return home as of April 3, 2023. Thirty-eight children remain in the Republic of Crimea as of April 3, 2023, compared to 2,360 minors on vacation there in October 2022," the bulletin said.
In January 2023, Lvova-Belova responded to reports by regional authorities as well as public information regarding difficulties with reuniting children with their Ukrainian parents or lawful guards after they had been taken to Crimea and Krasnodar Territory on vacation. She decided to get involved in the family reunion process.
Parents in the Kherson, Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions and some other territories voluntarily sent their children on vacation at the end of summer and in the fall of 2022 due to the situation on the frontline, in particular to protect their children from the hostilities, the bulletin said.
Children traveling with the power of attorney from their parents stayed at health resorts and summer camps in Crimea and Krasnodar Territory, it said.
"The overwhelming majority of the children have been reunited with their families, including those living in Russia, Ukraine and EU countries," the bulletin said.
Lvova-Belova said on March 24 that 56 Ukrainian children were waiting to be reunited with their families in Crimea and Krasnodar Territory as of that moment, while 33 children from the Kherson, Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions had been reunited with their families since March 10.