Skip to main content

US Sanctions Russians Over Ukraine Children Deportations

The United States on Thursday imposed new sanctions on Russian officials and groups over what rights organizations call the forced transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children since Moscow's invasion.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, announced the measures as she chaired a Security Council session that coincided with Ukrainian Independence Day.

"Russia's campaign of cruelty continues to this day," she said.

"The United States will not stand by as Russia carries out these war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The United States said it was imposing sanctions on 11 Russian individuals, including a number of "children's rights" regional commissioners, blocking any US assets and making US transactions with them a crime.

The sanctions also targeted the Artek "summer camp" in Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014 and annexed in a move not recognized internationally, and an alleged re-education camp for children in Chechnya.

The State Department also said it would restrict visas to three Russians involved in the forcible transfer of children in Ukrainian territories under Moscow's control.

The International Criminal Court pointed to the transfer of children when it issued an arrest warrant in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia has denounced the allegations and imposed its own sanctions on the Hague-based court's prosecutor.

Russian authorities say they have been placing children from conflict-hit areas into foster care in safe areas.

But Ukrainian officials and rights groups say that Russia has deported thousands of children, including babies, against their families' will in a bid to brainwash them and, for older children, to enlist them in military training.

"You will hear Russian officials say that their transfers of children are part of 'humanitarian evacuations.' But this is a gross perversion of reality, and a futile attempt to justify the unjustifiable," Thomas-Greenfield said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)



from NDTV News-World-news https://ift.tt/qcFghif

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Released 2 American Hostages On "Humanitarian Grounds": Hamas

Gaza's ruler Hamas said Friday its armed wing has released two American hostages, from around 200 captives abducted in attacks by the militant group in Israel on October 7. "In response to Qatari efforts, (Ezzedine) al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons," Hamas said in a statement posted on Telegram. The Islamist group did not detail how or when the hostages were released. The Israeli military said earlier Friday that most of those abducted to Gaza were still alive. "The majority of the hostages are alive. There were also dead bodies that were taken... to the Gaza Strip," an army statement said. The military said more than 20 hostages were minors, while between 10 and 20 were over the age of 60. There are also between 100 and 200 people considered missing since the Hamas attacks, the army added. On October 7, the Palestinian militant group carried out a deadly assault on Israel, the worst in...

Gaza's Rafah Border Crossing Area Hit In Military Strike

The area of the Rafah border crossing between the blockaded Gaza Strip and Egypt was hit Monday in a military strike, AFP correspondents said, as hundreds of Palestinians gathered hoping to cross. The area of the shuttered crossing point in Gaza's south had been hit at least three times last week by Israeli air strikes after Gaza-based Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7 that triggered all-out war. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) from NDTV News-World-news https://ift.tt/z9CBc7N

Sri Lanka Must Achieve Debt Restructuring By September: IMF

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday reaffirmed that Sri Lanka must achieve its debt restructuring process by September, which is also the time for the global lender's formal review of the bailout facility it extended to the cash-strapped nation. On March 20, IMF extended a nearly $3 billion bailout facility to debt-ridden Sri Lanka that would help stabilise the country's economy after it was jolted by a devastating economic crisis last year. In a statement issued on Tuesday at the end of a nearly two weeks staff visit to Colombo to assess the progress made by Sri Lanka since the agreement was reached, the IMF said the two sides had discussed the developments on debt restructuring. "Sri Lanka must achieve debt restructuring by its first review due in September. We also discussed progress on debt restructuring, noting the ongoing discussions with both foreign and domestic creditors," the statement read. Sri Lanka is still struggling to normalise its crisis-hi...