Russia has forcibly deported  267 orphan children from Mariupol and Volnovakha to Rostov, and is poised to make them Russian citizens, said Mariupol mayoral advisor Petro Andrushchenko.

According to reports, 540 Ukrainian children 267 of whom come from Mariuopol and Volnovakha ended up at a Romashka recreational center in Zolota Kosa, Rostov region while Russian authorities are readying the papers for their Russian citizenship applications.

Earlier this week, Russian lawmakers crafted a legislation allowing a fast-tracked citizenship procedure.

‘Our sources from the occupation administration report that the occupation officials have been ordered to transfer street children from Mariupol to this camp. We would love to see swift reaction from the international community, but..,’ added Andrushchenko.

 

The campaign can see Ukrainian children being adopted by Russian families making it a blatant violation of  the 1949 Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which obliges the occupying state not to alter the citizenship status of children,