The story of the evacuation of children from the zone of hostilities is blown out of proportion. They were not kidnapped, but rescued, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
The United States announced new sanctions against Russia, US President Joe Biden said in a statement on the occasion of Ukraine's Independence Day on August 24. Washington imposed restrictions on those who forcibly took thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, he said.
The list of those who fell under the sanctions has not been published yet.
Russia did not abduct, but saved Ukrainian children evacuating them from the zone of hostilities, President Vladimir Putin said on July 29. He also said that there were no problems with their return to their homeland.
Prior to this, Putin said that the evacuation of children from the zone of hostilities in Ukraine was absolutely legal.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin and children's ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. Putin and Lvova-Belova, the ICC claimed, were allegedly responsible for the illegal deportation of the population (children) from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, which constituted a war crime.
The Kremlin and the Russian Foreign Ministry called the decision of the ICC "insignificant." Moscow does not recognise the jurisdiction of this court. The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a case against the prosecutor and the judges who issued the warrants, whereas Russia's Interior Ministry put them on the wanted list.