Council of Europe recognizes Russia as a "genocide"
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe discussed the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia on Thursday. In the vote, Russia's action was recognized as "genocide".
It was stated that the action, which was defined as "systematically taking the children who lost their families during the war to Russia as a state policy", was carried out "with the aim of destroying all ties with their Ukrainian identities". The reason for the "genocide" statement was "the removal of children from their identities" and "their exposure to assimilation".
According to the news quoted by Euronews, in the report prepared by the Portuguese representative Paulo Pisco, the process in which children are subjected to Russian education and exposed to Kremlin propaganda was defined as "Russification".
The report, submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly, was adopted by a vote of 87.
According to figures released by the Ukrainian government in the past weeks, nearly 20,000 children have been smuggled into Russia.
Zelenski welcomed the decision.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenski announced that he welcomed the decision in a video he published on his Twitter account.
Zelenski emphasized that the decision taken in Strasbourg is a first. He interpreted this decision taken by an international institution of this level as "justice for Russia's genocidal policies towards Ukraine...".
Saying that nearly 20 thousand children have already been kidnapped, the Ukrainian leader reminded that this number may increase if the occupation continues.
Emphasizing that they are working to bring back all the abducted children, Zelenski called on the international community to punish Russia.
