 "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian President Vladimir Putin told US counterpart Donald Trump on August 18 that he is willing to meet Ukranian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. File image/AFP")
A day before Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi to start his two-day visit to India, New Delhi abstained from voting on a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution demanding an end to Russia’s forced relocation of Ukrainian children . On Wednesday, the 193-member Assembly adopted the draft resolution ‘Return of Ukrainian children’.
While 91 voted in favour of the resolution, 12 voted against, 57, including India, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, abstained from voting. The resolution in question demanded that Russia should “ensure the immediate, safe and unconditional return of all Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred or deported”.
It urged Moscow to cease, without delay, any further practice of forcible transfer, deportation, separation from families and legal guardians, change of personal status, including through citizenship, adoption or placement in foster families, and indoctrination of Ukrainian children.
What the resolution entails
The resolution called for the need to investigate and ensure accountability for those responsible for forcible transfers and deportations of children, in accordance with international law. It went on to condemn the legislative and administrative measures taken by Russia since 2022 that “simplify” the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for Ukrainian children, especially orphans and those deprived of parental care.
While presenting the resolution at the 11th emergency special session of the UNGA, Ukraine’s deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa maintained that as of October 2025, there are 6,395 deported and forcibly transferred children.
The Ukrainian authorities are investigating a total of over 20,000 cases of deportation and forcible transfers. Meanwhile, Russia’s deputy Permanent Representative Maria Zabolotskaya, in her remarks in UNGA, said the draft resolution is stuffed with “mendacious accusations”, adding it contains baseless allegations of Russia’s violations of international humanitarian law and does not mention that there may be children evacuated from combat zone or those who lost ties with their relatives, which in no way can be regarded as violations.
After the meeting, UNGA President Annalena Baerbock said that since February 2022, when Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Assembly has reiterated its calls across eight resolutions adopted during its 11th Emergency Special Session. She called for the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory.