The International Criminal Court in The Hague suspects Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova of organizing the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
On March 17, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for dictator Vladimir Putin and Russian Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. They are said to be responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of children. Yale researchers previously cited Lvova-Belova as a key figure responsible for the forced removal of children from Ukraine. Who is he?
Passionate about Adoption
Maria Lvova-Belova was appointed Commissioner for Children’s Rights at the end of 2021. Before that, she represented the Penza Region in the Federation Council and was one of the leaders of the Penza branch of the All-Russian Popular Front (a movement created by Putin).
Since February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Lvova-Belova has been responsible for the removal of Ukrainian children from the occupied territories and their “integration” into Russia. From the very beginning, he was a public figure, speaker and organizer of these processes.
38-year-old Lvova-Belova has five biological children and several more adopted. In addition, 13 children with disabilities are under the care of the Ombudsman. In the summer of 2022, Lvova-Belova said that she herself adopted a child from Mariupol who was captured by Russian troops. He regularly posted photos of the teenager on his social networks, and even made a propaganda film about this story for the Tsargrad TV channel.
According to Lvova-Belova, some Ukrainian children “spoke negatively about President Putin, said all kinds of rude things, sang the Ukrainian anthem, said “Glory to Ukraine” and all that. However, after falling under the care of Russian families, according to Lvova-Belova, “a certain negativity” was changed “into love for Russia.”
All lists of penalties
Sanctions against Lvova-Belova for leading the export process of Ukrainian children were introduced by the European Union, Great Britain and the United States. For supporting Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, he is also on the sanctions lists of Australia, Canada and Japan.
In Kyiv, the removal of children is considered a manifestation of genocide and a deliberate Russian policy to destroy Ukraine as a state and Ukrainians as a nation.
“By kidnapping our children, Russia is literally stealing our future,” said Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
Lvova-Belova herself said that she sees the decision of the International Court of Justice as a positive assessment of her work.
“The international community greatly appreciates the work to help the children of our country, that we do not leave them in the war zone, that we take them out, that we create good conditions for them, surround them with loving and caring people. There were sanctions from all countries, even Japan, against me, now there is an arrest warrant, I wonder what will happen next,” she said.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.