Putin’s forces ‘kidnap thousands of Ukrainian kids and take them back to Russia’

The Ukrainians have claimed that thousands of their kids have been snatched by Vladimir Putin’s forces and whisked away to Russia.

According to Ukraine's foreign ministry, nearly 2,400 children have been forcibly transported over the border from the disputed eastern territories of Donetsk and Luhansk in what it called a “gross violation of international law”.

In a tweet showing solidarity with Ukraine, the US embassy in Kyiv said: “This is not assistance. It is kidnapping.”

The shocking claim about the youngsters, reported in the Independent, follows an earlier claim from the authorities in the besieged city of Mariupol that several thousand of its residents had been forcibly deported to Russia in scenes that are horribly similar to how people were transported across Europe before and during the Second World War.

It has also been claimed that Putin’s forces plan to deport any Ukrainian civilians who protest against the invasion.

The terrible bombardment of cities across the country has left vast swathes of them destroyed and caused an untold number of civilian deaths.

In an emotional statement issued after two massive bombs struck Mariupol on Tuesday, the city’s council said the place had been turned into the “ashes of a dead land”.

It was a message repeated by Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, when he addressed Italy’s parliament yesterday.

“There is nothing left there,” he said.

Mariupol has been particularly hard hit by the Russian bombardment. Even as Putin’s forces have struggled elsewhere in Ukraine, there has been no let-up in the bombardment of the city that was home to 400,000 people before the war.

Elsewhere, it’s thought that much of the Russian invasion is in disarray.

Western analysts believe many of the invading forces are short of food, fuel and clothing, with some soldiers suffering from frostbite.

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However, that has raised fears that Putin will opt for ever-more dramatic measures.

There are reports that he has already ordered the use of white phosphorus in civilian areas and is considering the use of other chemical weapons.

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