Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has dismissed claims that 20,000 Ukrainian children were kidnapped by Russia, describing the allegation as false and politically motivated.

Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, Zakharova said the children were evacuated from conflict zones to safe locations and that Moscow had made efforts to reunite them with their families.

She said, “As we can see, there are no 20,000 kidnapped children in reality. Ukraine has not only failed but has not even tried to prove this data with documents. It has not provided specific facts, lists of the children, or data from parents or legal representatives who were looking for them.’’

Ms Zakharova accused the Ukrainian government of fabricating the numbers and failing to take any action over the years to substantiate the claims.

“Why has nothing been done by the Kyiv regime over these years? Because it was all lies,” she said.

She added that Russia was “rescuing children by taking them out of the shelling zones to safe places,” and described the effort as “really successful.’’

(RIA/NAN)