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UNICEF chief views Ukraine’s blacklisting of children as ‘important question’

As UNICEF Executive Director Katherine Russell noted, the organization "has concerns in many ways about what is happening in Ukraine as a result of this conflict"

UNITED NATIONS, September 16. /TASS/. The issue of Ukraine putting the personal data of underage children on its Mirotvorets (or Peacemaker) website is important, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Catherine Russell said at a briefing on Thursday.

"It is an important question and one that I think we are certainly aware of and are happy to provide additional information," she noted in response to criticism that UNICEF was not paying enough attention to the issue. "Obviously, UNICEF has, you know, we have concerns in many respects about what's happening in Ukraine as a result of this conflict," Russell added.

Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said earlier that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Russell had failed to react to Russia’s requests concerning Kiev’s blacklisting of children. Polyansky pointed out that a year ago, Faina Savenkova, a 13-year-old girl from Lugansk, had conveyed letters to the UN and UNICEF chiefs through Russian diplomats after having been listed on the Mirotvorets website. The Russian first deputy envoy to the UN stressed that "it was a great disappointment and a psychological trauma for the children who are being persecuted by Ukrainian Nazis, as well as for all of us, to realize that the UN International Children's Emergency Fund clearly seeks to avoid its responsibilities for political reasons, siding with those who are ready to ignore Ukraine’s crimes due to geopolitical considerations.".

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