Qatar to return three Ukrainian children from Russia after repatriation talks

By Andrew Mills

DOHA (Reuters) – In a significant development, Qatar has set up a mechanism to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children who have been taken to Russia. A Qatari official, who preferred to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter, informed Reuters on Monday that three Ukrainian children will be released to Qatari diplomats in Moscow this week. The ultimate goal of this mechanism is to ensure the safe return of many more children from Russia to Ukraine.

As part of this initiative, Qatar recently facilitated the return of a 7-year-old Ukrainian child. This child has been reunited with their grandmother and is currently en route to Ukraine via Estonia. The other three children awaiting release are a 2-year-old boy, a 9-year-old boy, and a 17-year-old girl.

The Ukrainian government has identified a staggering 20,000 children who have been taken to Russia or Russian-held territory without the consent of their family or guardians.

The arrival of these four children marks the first major test for the system that Qatar has established in collaboration with Moscow and Kyiv. The Qatari official revealed that after months of secret talks, the Gulf Arab state has managed to create this mechanism. Qatar’s minister of state for international cooperation, Lolwah Al Khater, has confirmed the mediation and emphasized that the upcoming repatriations are just the initial step in this process.

Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, has provided a shortlist of Ukrainian children to a team of Qatari diplomats. These diplomats have taken the responsibility to verify the identity of each child. However, the official could not confirm the number of additional children that Russia will authorize to be returned to Ukraine through this Qatari mechanism.

While nearly 400 children have been successfully returned to Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s invasion in February 2022, the United Nations human rights agency expressed concerns last week about the lack of a well-defined system to facilitate these returns.

The Qatari official mentioned that the first four children have already been verified and their parents have been identified and agreed upon by both Russia and Ukraine.

To ensure the safe return of these children, Qatari diplomats will accompany them either over the border with Estonia, Latvia, or Belarus or through a chartered jet directly to Qatar before returning them to Ukraine.

The Qatari official also noted that both Ukrainian and Russian officials have been cooperative throughout this process. Ukraine sought Qatar’s help in mediating with Russia over the issue of these abducted children.

Qatar, a small yet influential energy powerhouse, has been grabbing global diplomatic attention lately. It recently played a key role in brokering a U.S.-Iran prisoner swap and has been mediating between Israel and Hamas militants in an attempt to secure the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The 7-year-old child who was reunited with their grandmother last Friday had been in Russia’s custody due to being separated from their mother when the war broke out.

In a major development, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. However, Russia’s envoy to the United Nations in New York, Vassily Nebenzia, subsequently stated that Russia does not hinder children from contacting their relatives and friends, regardless of their location. Additionally, he acknowledged that parents can seek assistance to be reunited with their children.

(Reporting by Andrew Mills; Editing by Sandra Maler)