700,000 children in Ukraine conflict zones take refuge in Russia: Lawmaker

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) — Russia has received 700,000 children seeking shelter from conflict zones in Ukraine, a Russian lawmaker has claimed.

"In recent years, 700,000 children, fleeing the bombing and shelling from the conflict areas in Ukraine, have found refuge with us," Grigory Karasin said in a statement on Telegram late Sunday.

On March 17, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the country's commissioner for children's rights, on charges of "deportation" of Ukrainian children.

Russia said it does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction and considers its decisions "null and void," insisting that the children were moved from the battle zone with the approval of their parents or legal guardians to protect them from the dangers of the war.

Ukraine's Reintegration Ministry claimed on March 28 that it considered 19,514 Ukrainian children to have been "illegally deported" from the country.