Ukraine returns four children illegally deported to Russia

The Head of the Presidential Office, Andrii Yermak, has announced the return of four children who had been illegally deported to Russia.

These are three boys, aged six, three and nine, and a 17-year-old girl.

Earlier, Reuters wrote that the children were returned with the mediation of Qatar.

Qatari diplomats were supposed to accompany the children across the border with Estonia, Latvia or Belarus or to Qatar on a chartered plane before returning to Ukraine.

The return of the first four children tests the system established by Qatar after months of negotiations with Kyiv and Moscow, the newspaper writes.

Qatar's Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her Excellency Lolwah R M Al-Khater, said this was only the first step.

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