WASHINGTON, August 25. /TASS/. Another round of unfounded accusations on alleged forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children from the conflict zone are shocking because of their odious, cynical nature, and faint-heartedness, the Russian Embassy in the United States said on its Telegram channel on Thursday.

"We noted another surge in the U.S. Administration’s sanctions activity in relation to Ukraine Independence Day. Another round of unfounded accusations on alleged forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children from the conflict zone are shocking because of their odious, cynical nature, and faint-heartedness," the Russian Embassy pointed out. "Under the guise of protecting the rights of minors Washington, among other things, imposes restrictions against the International Children's Center "Artek." What is this, if not the desire to get back at the most vulnerable? At those, whose parents’ homes for more than nine years have been brutally bombarded by neo-Nazis, meticulously nurtured by the collective West."

"The United States’ attempts to position itself as one of the major advocates of children's interests are baseless, both de facto and de jure. The United States has not yet ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which sets the basic standards for the comprehensive protection of this vulnerable group of population," the Embassy added.

"Washington shows an ostentatious concern about the situation with children in the Special Military Operation zone primarily because the U.S. authorities consider Ukraine as one of the main sources of international adoption of children (mainly of Slavic origin). Detailed information on this subject, including numerous cases of gross violation of the rights of Russian minor citizens in the United States, is contained in the relevant report of the Russian Foreign Ministry," the statement says.

"We urge Washington to stop its cynical use of children's issues to settle geopolitical scores. Instead of moralizing, the U.S. authorities should take a critical look at their own actions, including the supply of heavy weapons to Kiev, which results inter alia in killing children and destroying civil infrastructure: kindergartens, schools, hospitals," the Russian Embassy said.

New US sanctions

On Thursday, the US authorities announced the expansion of sanctions against Russia. Restrictions were imposed, in particular, on the Artek International Children's Center. According to the US authorities, it " hosts Ukrainian children who undergo intensive programs of 'patriotic' re-education and are deprived of the opportunity to return to their families." Inclusion on the sanctions list implies freezing of assets in the US and a ban for American citizens and companies on doing business with its sanctioned members.

The Ukrainian side has repeatedly accused Russia of kidnapping children and taking them to Russian regions. Earlier, Russian permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said that Russia had evacuated Ukrainian children from the military conflict zone and would bring them back "when conditions are safe". The Russian human rights ombudsman, Tatyana Moskalkova, earlier also denied Kiev's claims about hundreds of children removed with force from Ukraine by Russia, calling them unfounded. She clarified that the children who were brought from the combat zones to Russia are not only in safety but also received everything they needed. At the same time, there is no question that the children are being kept in the country by force.