Papal envoy meets Russian ombudsperson wanted by ICC for abducting Ukrainian children
Maria Lvova-Belova and Matteo Zuppi (Photo:Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights/Handout via REUTERS)
Papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, in Russia on a peace mission, has met with war crimes suspect and Russian children's rights ombudsperson Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian official reported on Telegram on June 29.
Lvova-Belova is directly involved in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children and is subject to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court or ICC. The UN Convention on Genocide recognizes the forced abduction of children from one group to another as one of five defined forms of genocide.
While in Moscow, Zuppi also met with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill – a vocal supporter of Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression on Ukraine – Vatican News writes.
After his visit to Hungary on May 1, Pope Francis said that the Vatican was involved in a "peacekeeping mission" to try to put an end to the full-scale war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.
Reportedly, Kyiv knew nothing about it.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the pontiff on May 13 during a visit to Italy.
After that, Zuppi came to Ukraine and met with Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, who tried to convey to him that the only mechanism to protect Ukrainian children is the liberation of the entire territory of Ukraine.
The ICC issued arrest warrants on March 17 for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Lvova-Belova for their involvement in the unlawful removal of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation since Feb. 24, 2022.
The Russians have abducted almost 20,000 Ukrainian children from the territories they occupy, Ukrainian authorities say.
President Zelenskyy has signed decrees imposing sanctions against Russians involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children. The European Union’s tenth package of sanctions against Russia also targets those involved in the illegal abduction of children from Ukraine.
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