Skopje, 2 June 2022 (MIA) – Deputy Ombudsman Jovan Andonovski, who is paying a visit to Ukraine, met with Ukrainian counterpart Iryna Sivitska, discussing about key issues of Ukrainians in North Macedonia. Talks focused on access to healthcare of Ukrainians in the country, access to education of Ukrainian children, as well as access to jobs for temporary displaced Ukrainians, the Ombudsman office said in a press release. Sivitska extended gratitude and briefed Andonovski on the increased number of cases related to human rights violations in areas where military activities are ongoing. Sivitska and Andonovski agreed to keep in touch and closely monitor the situation related to mass human rights violation. Sivitska stressed that Ukraine sees the mass killings in Bucha and other cities as genocide, and keeps to the request that other European countries also classify those crimes as genocide. Ombudsman Andonovski stressed that North Macedonia is a friend of the Ukrainian people and will do its utmost to facilitate their stay in the country. Andonovski also met with the three chief prosecutors of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine who are on the cases against the Russian soldiers. Valeriia Melnyk, Emir Abdylaev and Oksana Dymytrieva briefed Ombudsman Andonovski on the first two verdicts against Russian soldiers who got 11,5 years in prison for war crimes. The prosecutors, reads the press release, said there were over 14,000 suspected war crime cases. According to their data, more than 100,000 people have been forcibly displaced from the city of Mariupol alone. One of the main topics of discussion was the situation with the children. Since the onset of the war, 689 children have been injured, 243 killed, of which 20 percent are under the age of 7, while 137 children are missing. The prosecutors also mentioned the issue of deportation of children, cases of child rape, as well as cases of Crimean children being militarized and trained to fight against their own people for eight years now. Ombudsman Andonovski stressed that they can seek international legal assistance and asked whether they would call for the establishment of an international war crimes tribunal. He also offered Macedonian legal expertise in uncovering war crimes. The prosecutors extended gratitude, adding that any help was welcome, but for the time being their prosecution is the only one to open such cases. In addition, Andonovski also visited the Kyiv’s suburbs of Irpin and Bucha.