Russia鈥檚 presidential commissioner for children鈥檚 rights Maria Lvova-Belova (C) sits with Ukrainian children before their departure to Ukraine from Russia under a deal brokered by Qatar, at the Qatari embassy in Moscow on February 19, 2024. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)
On the Ukraine-Belarus border, Ukraine 鈥� Eleven Ukrainian children crossed the border from Belarus to Ukraine Tuesday evening, in the latest return of children taken to Russia and occupied territories during the nearly two-year Ukraine war.
Emerging from the darkness at a humanitarian crossing on the Belarus border, the children hugged family members who had been waiting for more than six hours.
READ: 鈥楤ring them back鈥�: Ukrainian orphans demand return of children in Russia
Oleksandr, 16, is the oldest among those returned by Moscow through a Qatar-mediated scheme.
鈥淢y new life is starting,鈥� he said, smiling shyly and describing the 鈥渏oy and slight nerves鈥�.
The children were received by the Qatari embassy in Moscow on Monday before travelling to Belarus and walking across the one-kilometer border zone 鈥� while some relatives were able to meet the children directly in Moscow.
Two critically ill children were brought over in an ambulance and rushed to hospital.
Ukraine estimates that 20,000 children have been forced into Russia since the war erupted in February 2022.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the action 鈥渁 genocide.鈥� Russia denies the accusations.
The group of children is the fourth and largest to have been returned with Qatar鈥檚 help and included some as young as two, Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets told AFP at the border.
鈥淏elieve me, we will bring them all back,鈥� Lubinets assured the waiting relatives.
Reuniting families聽
Oleksandr鈥檚 aunt Viktoria, 47, had not seen him since the war broke out.
She unsuccessfully tried to collect her nephew three times and only managed to speak to him on the phone recently.
Officials in Russian-occupied Lugansk sent him to a state boarding school, similar to a children鈥檚 home, where they took away his documents and 鈥減sychologically pressured him to stop him leaving,鈥� she said.
鈥淥ur situation seemed deadlocked.鈥�
Oleksandr was sent to the school after his mother and older brother, 21, were killed by shelling of their car as they tried to flee the Lugansk region in July 2022.
READ: Ukrainian children head below ground at start of new school year
Sometimes Oleksandr dreams of his mother screaming as she died, his aunt added.
Now she plans to take her nephew to live with her in Zhytomyr near Kyiv.
鈥淲e will celebrate and show him the city.鈥�
Computer developer Sergiy, 36, from Kyiv, also pulled his niece and nephew into a tight embrace as he collected them at the border.
After their parents died, Lev, 13, and Zhazmin, 10, lived with a distant relative in their home city of Russian-occupied Mariupol.
The relative moved them to the suburbs of Moscow as Mariupol became a fierce battlefield in the spring of 2022, before later returning to the Ukrainian city.
The relative 鈥渉ad no desire to take care of the children鈥� so she tried to put them in a state children鈥檚 home, Sergiy said.
鈥淚 thought it was almost impossible to get the kids back.鈥�
Smiling, Sergiy said he was ready to become a father of two, having no children himself.
鈥淚 will try to show them what it is like when they are needed and when someone can properly care of and support them.鈥�
Another mother, who wished to remain anonymous, collected her 13-year-old son after she was held prisoner in Mariupol.
Ambassador of Qatar to Russia Sheikh Ahmed bin Nasser Al Thani and Russia鈥檚 presidential commissioner for children鈥檚 rights Maria Lvova-Belova (unseen) interact with Ukrainian children before their departure to Ukraine from Russia under a deal brokered by Qatar, at the Qatari embassy in Moscow on February 19, 2024. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)
Qatari help聽
鈥淲ith an intermediary鈥� we have new approaches, and you can see the result,鈥� Lubinets said.
Lubinets added that he had just returned from meeting Qatar鈥檚 prime minister to discuss the return of both children and civilians.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 disclose the details publicly yet, but I will say that I saw the maximum interest for Qatar to take part in this.鈥�
For his part, Qatari ambassador Hadi Nasser Mansour Al-Hajri told AFP that the country was ready to help bring out more people.
鈥淚f there is a request from both sides, we will do it, we are eager to do it.鈥�
鈥淲e are open for any possibilities: bringing prisoners of war or political prisoners鈥� and the kids, we are open for all these things.鈥�
Since July 2023, Qatar has helped bring out almost 30 children, the ambassador said.
鈥淲e are almost the only country involved in the issue so we will continue.鈥�