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Another group of 26 children returns to Russia from Syria — rights commissioner

Maria Lvova-Belova added that the children were examined by doctors before leaving Syria

MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. A group of 26 Russian children has returned to Russia from one of the camps in northeastern Syria, Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova said.

"Today a group of Russian children returned home from one of the camps in northeastern Syria. A total of 14 boys and 12 girls, aged 5 to 12, will soon be reunited with their relatives: grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles. Some of them will be reunited with brothers and sisters we've already brought to Russia," she wrote on her Telegram channel.

Lvova-Belova added that the children were examined by doctors before leaving Syria. "Together with my team, the doctors visited one of the refugee camps, took blood samples from the children to conduct DNA tests to confirm kinship," the commissioner pointed out.

She noted that before meeting their relatives, the children will undergo a medical examination in one of Moscow’s federal clinics.

The humanitarian mission to repatriate Russian children from the Middle East has been coordinated by the presidential commissioner for children’s rights since 2018. A total of 592 children from Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Turkey have been returned to Russia.

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