Russia-Ukraine Child Exchange Deal Reached in Doha

Russia and Ukraine have agreed in a Qatari-brokered deal to exchange almost 50 children displaced by Moscow's invasion, the Kremlin's children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova announced in Doha.

Moscow has been accused of forcibly taking Ukrainian children into Russian territory during its full-scale offensive, with Lvova-Belova wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges related to those allegations.

"For the first time in a face-to-face format, we held talks with the Ukrainian side. Twenty-nine children are due to go to Ukraine and 19 to Russia," Lvova-Belova announced.

Ukraine believes Russia has illegally taken more than 19,000 of its children since the start of the 2022 invasion, of which fewer than 400 have been returned.

Moscow denies that charge, saying that it has transferred children for their safety away from fighting zones.

The fate of the children has been highly sensitive in Ukraine since the war began two years ago.

Some of the children's parents were killed, while others were separated from carers by the fast-moving front lines at the start of the invasion.

Some were living in Ukrainian orphanages in areas Russia then occupied.

"From there we started the process, it wasn’t an easy process I should say, we went through many ups and downs, but eventually we were able to successfully achieve the full operation and we’re hoping for more. We have agreed with both parties that this was a pilot and hopefully we can upscale it a little bit," said Lolwah Al-Khater, Qatari International Cooperation Minister.

Ukraine says Moscow's forces illegally deported them to Russia, and accuses the Russian authorities of trying to wipe out their Ukrainian identity.

Teenagers that returned to Ukraine have said they were subjected to Russian patriotic education and made to praise the Russian army.