MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/. Child protective services have removed 430 kids from Ukrainian families based abroad, Vasily Lutsik, head of Ukraine’s National Social Service, said.
"As of late July 2024, 430 children were taken from Ukrainians abroad," he said, as cited by Radio Liberty (designated in Russia as a foreign agent media outlet and included in the list of undesirable organizations).
According to Lutsik, the service receives reports of such cases both from Ukrainian diplomatic missions and the children’s relatives.
"The countries where such incidents occurred most often include Germany (122 children), Poland (39), Norway (20) and Spain (20). The reasons vary. They may include ignorance of the host country’s laws and, perhaps, different approaches to parenting. For instance, parents may loudly scold their child in the street or send a child under ten years old to school alone, which is prohibited in many European countries," the official explained.
Lutsik noted that a child might also be removed from a family if the parents have health issues, including mental disorders.
According to Germany’s Statista platform, about six mln Ukrainian nationals resided in European countries as of July 2024.