DUBAI, April 23. /TASS/. At least 37 children from Russia and Ukraine are in Qatar for medical treatment as part of Doha’s mediation efforts to reunite families separated as a result of Ukrainian conflict, Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said.
"Regarding Qatar’s mediation efforts aimed at returning [home] Ukrainian and Russian children affected by the war, <…> we announced the arrival [in Qatar] of 20 Ukrainian and Russian children affected by the war, including 37 children <…> as part of a program aimed at providing them with comprehensive medical care," he said at a press conference in Doha, which was broadcast by Al Jazeera.
The diplomat said that ten families from Ukraine, including 16 children, and ten families from Russia, including 21 children, arrived in Doha on April 18. According to the spokesman, they will stay in the Qatari capital until April 27. As part of the program, the families affected by the conflict will receive all necessary medical assistance, including psychological. The host country has also planned a cultural program for them.
On March 21, Russia, through Qatar's mediation, handed over five children to Ukrainian families, while another child was returned to relatives in Russia. The reunion took place at the Qatari embassy in Moscow. According to Russian Human Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, a total of 64 children were returned to Ukraine and six children were reunited with relatives in Russia.