KAZAN. April 26 (Interfax) - Six Ukrainian children evacuated from the special military operation's zone are awaiting reunion with their families in Crimea, Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova said.
"As of this moment, all children from the Krasnodar Territory have been returned to their parents and legal guardians. We have six children left in Crimea," Lvova-Belova told reporters on the sidelines of the 20th all-Russia congress of children's rights commissioners in Kazan.
Parents of the remaining children live in the EU, which makes the reunion a bit more difficult than it is for families residing in Ukraine or Russia, she said.
"We have contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross, we have passed over the lists, we are in touch with the parents, and we are communicating with them," Lvova-Belova said.
As Lvova-Belova's office said earlier, parents residing in the Kherson, Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions and in some other territories voluntarily sent their children to recreation camps in other parts of Russia in late summer and fall of 2022 in order to protect them from the hostilities and the situation near the frontlines. Health resorts and recreation camps in Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory accepted the children from the accompanying adults by the power of attorney from the parents or legal guardians. As of January 2023, over 2,000 children reunited with their relatives, while almost 400 remained in recreation camps in the Krasnodar Territory and Crimea.
As of April 3, there were two children with Ukrainian citizenship waiting to reunite with their families at recreation camps in the Krasnodar Territory, and another 38 were in Crimea, according to the bulletin on the activities of the children's rights commissioner during the special military operation published on April 4. The ombudsman's office told Interfax later that 24 children returned to their families later that day. Lvova-Belova said on April 14 that all children remaining in the Krasnodar Territory had reunited with their parents, while eight Ukrainian children remained in Crimea.
She also said that the return of those children was complicated by the inability of some parents and legal guardians to come from Ukraine and pick up their children in person with documents confirming their kinship.