Crimea Platform in Prague: Almost 4,000 Ukrainian Children Illegally Taken from Occupied Crimea to Russia and Belarus

The first place from which Russian aggressors began to kidnap Ukrainian children was the temporarily occupied Crimea. Then, the Russians continued this criminal practice in other occupied territories of Ukraine.

This was stated by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, Marketa Pekarova Adamova, in her speech at the opening of the second parliamentary summit of the International Crimea Platform.

She noted that the International Crimea Platform has many goals, but one of the most important is to fight to ensure that people do not forget about Crimea. She reminded that soon it will be 10 years since Russia's illegal invasion of Crimea with the aim of annexing the territory of another state.

"People tend to forget that the world did not react actively enough and did not provide an adequate response to such behaviour, and the Kremlin interpreted it as a sign of weakness because dictators always do so. We tend to forget that Crimea became the first place from which Russian aggressors began to kidnap Ukrainian children," Adamova said.

According to her, it has already been confirmed that around 4,000 Ukrainian children were illegally taken from Crimea to either Russia or Belarus.

"We do not know where they are now. After that, this process continued, and children were taken directly from their families, and for this crime, Vladimir Putin was accused by the International Criminal Court. This is a clear signal that the international community can play an active role in overcoming aggression," emphasized the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic.

According to the speaker, in the 21st century, there should be no place in the world for armed aggression and violations of the principles of international law. The brutal attack on Israel, instability in Taiwan and the Caucasus are unfortunate examples of what the international community should work on.

Finally, Ms. Adamova announced the creation of a Parliamentary Support Group for the International Crimea Platform in the Czech Parliament, which will not only address the issue of de-occupation but will also take on the matters of reintegration and the restoration of the Crimean Peninsula after its liberation by Ukraine.

As previously reported, the second parliamentary summit of the International Crimea Platform began today in the Czech capital, Prague. According to the organizers, the summit is attended by high-ranking representatives of parliaments from over 40 countries, as well as international parliamentary assemblies and organizations.