Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that Russia is abducting Ukrainian children and training them to fight against Ukraine.
CBS News reported on Sunday, May 31, that Zelensky made the remarks during a special interview with the American news network.
According to the report, this is the first time the Ukrainian president has publicly made such an accusation.
Zelensky said the Ukrainian government possesses evidence showing that Russia is abducting Ukrainian children and training them to fight against other Ukrainians.
The report noted that the Ukrainian president did not provide details of the evidence he claimed to possess during the interview.
He added: “Imagine this, these young Ukrainians, these young boys, coming to the battlefield and killing Ukrainians.”
The report stated that the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023 over what it described as the “unlawful deportation of population.”
The Kremlin, however, has described the move as a humanitarian effort to care for children orphaned by the war.
Zelensky also said during the interview that Ukraine has so far identified and documented at least 20,000 Ukrainian children who, according to him, have been transferred to Russia.
