327 Children Added to Ukrainian Hit List — Russian Diplomat
Russia Appeals to UN to have “Mirotvorets” site taken down
More than three hundred children have now been added to the infamous “Mirotvorets” database, according to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dmitriy Polyanskiy, First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, appealed to the UN on behalf of the children during a Security Council meeting on Tuesday, July 19th.
“During the eight years of the armed conflict in this region, hundreds of children were killed, thousands more were injured,” the diplomat said in his statement. “The smallest victim of Ukrainian aggression was only 27 days old.”
Polyanskiy was referring to attacks by nationalists and Banderites who have terrorized the Russian-speaking civilians in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine since the 2014 Maidan coup first tore the country apart. Just this week alone, the diplomat says, more than 20 civilian structures, including schools and health centers, were shelled by Armed Forces of Ukraine.
As if the ongoing war was not already dangerous enough for children, Polyanskiy said that the website “Mirotvorets,” which ironically means “Peacemaker” in Ukrainian, has published the names and personal information of 327 children in addition to that of 13-year-old Faina Savenkova, who was added to the site last year.
“Because on the eve of the International Day for Protection of Children, she recorded an open address to the UN where the asked not to forget about the children of Donbas,” Polyanskiy told those assembled at the UN, “she and her family immediately started to receive threats. We appealed to the Secretary-General for assistance in removing Faina’s personal data from the website of Ukrainian neo-Nazis in order to protect her, but, unfortunately, to no avail. Meanwhile, the situation is only getting worse.”
Polyanskiy also issued an official letter to the UN Secretary General and attached a 700-page report from “The Foundation to Battle Injustice,” which identifies the 327 children whose personal data was published on the “Mirotvorets” site. Most of the children are from families in the breakaway People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, in what was formerly eastern Ukraine. But 72 of the children are living in Russia.
The site has also published the names and personal information of thousands of activists and journalists. One Italian journalist listed on the site has been murdered, and the Ukrainian word meaning “liquidated” was written in red letters over his face.
Mira Terada, the foundation’s spokesperson, held a press conference alongside Polyanskiy and the young writer, Faina Savenkova, at the offices of Russia Today on Thursday, July 21st.
Earlier it was reported that Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova did not rule out the US State Department’s participation in the creation of the “Mirotvorets” website. The website mentions the CIA in several places as well as “Langley, Virginia.”
According to the Foundation to Battle Injustice, the head adviser to the leader of Lugansk People’s Republic, Anna Soroka, was also listed on the “Mirotvorets” site, after which she received death threats and an attempt was made on her life and the life of her child.
About the author:
Deborah Armstrong currently writes about geopolitics with an emphasis on Russia. She previously worked in local TV news in the United States where she won two regional Emmy Awards. In the early 1990’s, Deborah lived in the Soviet Union during its final days and worked as a television consultant at Leningrad Television.
