Maria Lvova-Belova
Maria Lvova-Belova is a Russian state official best known as the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Russian Federation, a post she has held since 2020. Before that appointment she worked in social services in the Kemerovo Oblast region, including heading its social welfare directorate. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she has been associated with the forced deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied territories, leading to her inclusion in international sanctions lists.
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Eleven children, including an infant, returned from Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast to Ukraine-controlled territory
Eleven children aged from 1 year and 4 months to 17 were returned from the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast to Ukrainian-controlled territory, the head of the Kherson Oblast Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said. The operation was carried out with the charity Save Ukraine under the presidential Bring Kids Back UA initiative. Among those brought back, several said they had been subjected to militarization and intimidation in occupation schools.
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Russia seeks extradition of ICC President Tomoko Akane from the Netherlands
Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has formally requested that the Netherlands extradite International Criminal Court (ICC) President Tomoko Akane, and sent similar requests to other countries for eight additional ICC figures, including former Prosecutor Karim Khan. The move is the latest escalation in Russia's confrontation with the ICC following its March 2023 arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over the deportation of Ukrainian children, and comes alongside US sanctions on the court.
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Trump signs Graham Act, codifying US sanctions for forced deportation of Ukrainian children
US President Donald Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act (H.R. 5334) on 18 September, putting into statute for the first time sanctions grounds for the forced deportation of Ukrainian children. The law also authorizes sweeping tariffs on Russian energy buyers and direct Russian imports, and bans new US investments in Russia.