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April 10, 2023

Russian Strike Kills Young Girl and Father as 31 Abducted Ukrainian Children Returned to Families
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In Ukraine, an 11-year-old girl and her father were killed Sunday as
Russia's military struck a residential building in the Ukrainian city of
Zaporizhzhia. The violence came as a Ukrainian charity said it has
reunited dozens of children with their families over the past week,
after they were deported from occupied parts of Ukraine. Russia has
denied abducting the children, but said some youth were evacuated from
the frontlines for their own safety. This is Natalia Rakk, a mother who
reunited with her twin daughters on Friday, months after they were taken
to Russian-occupied Crimea and told they would be put up for adoption.

Natalia Rakk: "It was terribly difficult, but we kept on going. We did
not sleep at night. We slept sitting up. We stopped very little. Our
goal was to pick the children up. We knew that we had to achieve it
despite all obstacles. Yes, we left everything behind, relatives and
friends."

Ukraine says more than 19,000 children have been taken to Russian
territory since President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to invade
Ukraine last year. The United Nations has said the forced deportations
violate international humanitarian law and amount to a war crime.


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