• Monday, 23 December 2024

US: Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians deported by Russia

US: Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians deported by Russia
Russia has forcibly transferred hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to sometimes remote areas since invading its neighbour, the US ambassador to the United Nations said on Wednesday. Journalists and human rights groups have documented the displacements since the war began, with civilians forced to cross the border into Russia and others into areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told US broadcaster NPR that the scale of the transports was huge and far-flung, with some people taken as far away as Russia's border with North Korea. "We have evidence that the Russians have moved hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens, including children," Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told US radio broadcaster NPR. "They're being interrogated, they're being detained, they're being forcibly deported. Some are being sent to the furthest-most parts of eastern Russia near the North Korean border, and they're being sent because this is an effort by the Russians to suppress resistance," she said. She demanded that the UN and human rights organizations be given access to the camps where the displaced Ukrainians were being held. Moscow has characterized the Ukrainians arriving in Russia as refugees who are being cared for.