MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. The Kiev authorities persecute orphans from Donbass and parents reuniting with their children, using them as a propaganda tool, Russian presidential commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, said on Monday.

"We regularly receive reports of threats against orphaned children in Donbass from Ukraine. Some anonymous strangers do not abandon attempts to contact them to rain them with provocative offers and to blackmail them. It’s an incredible disgrace: first, the Ukrainian military bombards children in their native land, and now, when these children are safe and comfortable at home, they are being terrorized morally. Their guardians see their personal data published online and are threatened in various ways," Lvova-Belova said on her Telegram channel.

She said that the parents whose children stay on vacation at resorts in southern Russia are also being harassed by the Ukrainian side.

"They are forced to make depositions against our country. They are forced to position themselves as witnesses of crimes that have never happened. Various kinds of pressure are being exerted, including charges of collaborationism. They are being brainwashed by Ukraine's secret services, which complicates an already difficult reunification process. They and their lives are being used as a means of information warfare and propaganda," Lvova-Belova wrote.

"I would like to draw the attention of Kiev's Western handlers to this illegal and inhuman activity of the Ukrainian authorities. Such actions significantly harm the lives of children and run counter to their best interests," she stressed.