Moscow transports 200,000 children from Ukraine to Russia

Nearly 1.1 million people have been displaced in Russia from war-affected regions of Ukraine since its neighbor’s invasion of Moscow began in February, Russia said.

And the Interfax news agency quoted the commander of the Russian army, Mikhail Mezintsev, saying that among those who were transferred in Russia there were about 200,000 children. He added that 11,500 people, including 1,850 children, were transferred from Ukraine to Russia on Monday alone.

Russia describes this as an evacuation to get people safe from ground fighting and alleged violence by the Ukrainian leadership in Kiev.

Ukraine sees this as a forced deportation of its citizens from the Russian-occupied territories to the east and south. According to Kiev, the Russian army does not allow people to flee the territory controlled by Ukraine.

The National Council for Security and Defense of Ukraine accused Russia of kidnapping Ukrainian children and using them for propaganda purposes.