Olena Zelenska calls for return of 19,000 ‘abducted’ children

Ukraine’s first lady urged world leaders on Tuesday to help return Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia, where she said they are being indoctrinated and deprived of their national identity, AFP reports.

Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Olena Zelenska said that more than 19,000 Ukrainian children have been transferred by force or deported to Russia or occupied territories.

So far, only 386 have been brought back.

In Russia, “they were told that their parents don’t need them, that their country doesn’t need them, that nobody is waiting for them,” Zelenska said.

“The abducted children were told that they are no longer Ukrainian children, that they are Russian children.”