“There is a movement of children to Russia but we are unable to quantify it, nor to say whether it is voluntary or whether it is forced”. Speaking with Adnkronos, Unicef Italia spokesman Andrea Iacomini carefully avoids using the term “deportees”, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Easter Sunday speaking of 5 thousand children deported from Mariupol to Russia and of whom they lost track. “If there is no official note from the United Nations that gives an explanation on this – says Iacomini – and that intervenes, both on the figures and taking a position, we cannot confirm this news. However, it cannot be denied that there are movements. of children from the east and south east of Ukraine, with or without parents, find themselves across the border. We cannot confirm the numbers we are talking about, but there are border areas heavily under siege where it is now impossible to hide or protect themselves. And it is inevitable that there will be human movements and displacements from these areas “. “As the United Nations, we have no official data on missing children”, continues the spokesman for Unicef Italy, specifying that “instead we have under our eyes the situation of so-called ‘separated’ children, those who have crossed the border or even who have been displaced in the within the Ukrainian territory. But we do not have an account of missing children, although there is evidence that it will be a very high number. We cannot confirm the figures that speak of 70 thousand children missing, nor the 200 thousand children who have been evacuated or kidnapped or in forced movement from Ukraine to Russia. We are aware of movements of children from the eastern and southeastern borders of Ukraine to Russia, but it is clear that the United Nations has so far not been able to verify the numbers that they circulate, precisely because we do not have the possibility to carry out an independent investigation in the territory “. And yet, Iacomini affirms, “what worries us is the phenomenon of children who risk entering into mechanisms of trafficking, trafficking and exploitation and who therefore, as often happens, disappear. A crisis so great and fast unfortunately exposes them to risks such as And probably in the future the numbers of missing children will be staggering, we have expressed great concern about this since the beginning of the war. Because with figures and displacements such as these, the trafficking and disappearance of these children is the topic on which to pay more attention, even more of the movements towards Russia. (by Cristiano Camera)