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Total of 225 Ukrainian children taken away from parents in EU — Foreign Ministry

"We are expecting that the so-called Western guardians of rights will establish a coalition to return these minors, who were essentially kidnapped by European special services, to their parents," Maria Zakharova said

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/. As many as 225 Ukrainian children have been snatched away from their parents across the entirety of the EU, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

"A total of 225 children have been ripped away from their parents in the European Union. The most unfortunate situation is in Germany, where 71 children were taken away from Ukrainian parents. The situation is not much better in other countries: 33 children in Poland, 25 in Italy, 24 in the Czech Republic, and 17 in Sweden. These are all children that were taken away from their parents, while the parents found themselves bereft of any rights to take care of, educate or bring up their children," she said.

"We are expecting that the so-called Western guardians of rights will establish a coalition to return these minors, who were essentially kidnapped by European special services, to their parents," the spokeswoman said. "What’s shocking is the fact that we are completely ready to contribute to the operation of this coalition, which must be created. We have a large array of potentially useful information," she added.

Earlier, a number of media outlets reported an increase in cases of special services taking children away from Ukrainian citizens staying in EU countries under temporary protection status.