(LONDON) — Russia announced on Thursday that it is returning to Ukraine five children who have been separated from their families by the war.
Maria Lvova-Belova, the Kremlin’s commissioner of children’s rights, told reporters that the Ukrainian children will be reunited with their families in Ukraine by the end of this month.
The children were on a list of 339 children that Ukrainian officials gave their Russian counterparts during the last round of peace talks earlier this month in Istanbul, Turkey — negotiations that failed to bring the three-year war to an end.
In response to a question from the Russian news agency Interfax, Lvova-Belova, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, said the delay in sending the Ukrainian children back to their county was “due to their studies.”
“They are finishing the school year and after that they will return to their relatives in Ukraine,” she said.
Lvova-Belova did not mention status of the other children on Ukraine’s list.
According to Lvova-Belova, Russia is preparing its own list of Russian children believed to be in Ukraine. She said it will be handed over to Ukrainian officials whenever the next round of negotiations is scheduled.
“We also have children in Ukraine who require reunification with Russian families,” Lvova-Belova said. “At the moment, we have eight children on the list who are in EU countries. They were evacuated there from Ukraine, and their parents are in Russia. And from Ukraine, we have about 10 people, with whom we are also currently negotiating their return.”
Ukrainian officials have alleged that many of the country’s children have been abducted and taken to Russia since the war began in February 2022, when Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges related to the abduction of Ukrainian children.
The Kremlin, however, has denied the allegations, saying the children were taken out of war zones for their own protection.
ABC News’ Anna Sergeeva contributed to this report.
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