DOHA: Ukraine and Russia have agreed to exchange 13 children displaced by the ongoing conflict, a process facilitated by the mediation of Qatar, officials said on Thursday.

Russia has been accused of forced deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children from schools, hospitals and orphanages in parts of the country controlled by its forces.

According to officials in Qatar, the family reunification process will involve the safe return of nine Ukrainian children and one adult back to Ukraine, as well as the reunification of four Russian minors with their families.

A Qatari official stated, “The family reunification process involves the safe reunification of nine minors and one adult with their families in Ukraine.”

The Ukrainian children, aged between 12 and 17, include a 19-year-old sibling and a child who lost their last remaining parent during the invasion. Others in the group had been staying with relatives when they were separated from their families due to the conflict.

The Russian children involved in the exchange are aged between two and seven. Two were in care centers before the conflict began, while the other two had been living with relatives. Representatives from Qatar will host these children at their embassy in Moscow before their reunification with families in Ukraine or elsewhere in Russia.

Ukraine has reported that around 20,000 children were taken to Russia following Moscow’s invasion in February 2022, accusing Russian forces of conducting illegal abductions and attempting to erase their Ukrainian identity.

Moscow has consistently denied accusations of forcibly deporting children, asserting that children were moved for their own safety when parental care was unavailable.

The exchange is the latest in a series of family reunifications brokered by Qatar that has seen scores of children returned to Ukraine and Russia following visits by Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani to Kyiv and Moscow last year.

“Qatar remains committed to its efforts to support the reunification of separated families and to ensure the safety, welfare and the reunification of children with their families,” the Qatari official said.