Children's ombudswoman reports 350 orphans from ‘DPR’ and ‘LPR’ adopted in Russia

Over 350 orphans from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (“DPR” and “LPR”) have been adopted in Russia, another thousand children are waiting to be adopted, Russian media outlet RBC reports, citing Children's Rights Commissioner of Russia Maria Lvova-Belova.

“All parents wishing to adopt a child will be able to do so in accordance with the established procedure. We can help organise meetings or, for example, bring kids [to Russia] seeing as the situation is turbulent over there, so not every family will be able to go there [to meet a child],” the ombudswoman is quoted saying.

She added that ombudsman positions would soon be established in the “DPR” and “LPR”, as well as Russia-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

At the end of September, Lvova-Belova said that 30 orphans from Mariupol with a previously negative view of Russia and Vladimir Putin had changed their minds. According to her, after the children had been adopted by Russian families, their attitude towards Russia drastically changed, and they stopped “saying all sorts of nasty things and singing the Ukrainian hymn”.