Kiev, 9 January 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Ukraine believes that more than 19,500 children have been illegally abducted to Russia during the war, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andrii Yermak, said in Kiev on Monday.

"Russia has committed terrible crimes in the course of its war against Ukraine, but the deportation and forcible abduction of children, our most vulnerable, is one of the most atrocious crimes against humanity since the Second World War," Yermak said, according to a statement.

The number is based on UN figures. Around 3,900 of these children are said to be orphans or without parents. Yermak accused Russia of systematically deporting and resettling Ukrainian children. This was part of the state's policy to destroy their identity.

Moscow is refusing to provide Ukraine or international institutions with information about the fate of the children.

So far, it has only been possible to bring Ukrainian children back to their home country in individual cases. A working group from Bring Kids Back UA, which unites the efforts of the Ukrainian government, partner countries and international organizaitons, was set up on Monday.

It aims to develop mechanisms for the voluntary reunification of children with their relatives and to help close gaps in international child protection law.

Alongside Yermak, British lawyer and Member of the House of Lords Helena Kennedy is chairing the working group.

MIA file photo