Lvova-Belova spoke about the process of arranging children from the DPR and LPR into families

Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children's Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, spoke on Saturday, March 8, about the organization of the process of placement in families of children from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR, LPR).

"These children have suffered since 2014: they lived in bomb shelters, did not see sunlight, did not receive proper medical care. When we saw them in temporary accommodation facilities, intimidated, hiding under the bed from every loud sound, we realized that they needed parents who could warm them up, because there was no other way," the ombudsman said in an interview with the project "Leaders with Lilia Abramova" on the TatarkaFM YouTube channel.

Lvova-Belova recalled the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called for all children from the DPR and LPR who do not have parents and relatives to be placed in substitute families.

According to her, at first it was not clear exactly how to fulfill this assignment, since there were no documents that would regulate this process.

"How to organize everything? How can we find families who will not make a mistake in their choice?" the Ombudsman recalled.

She said that after that she called her "close" governors and described the situation. Each of them expressed their willingness to find families who would take care of the children.

"As a result, we have a team of 19 governors. When they provided lists of families ready to accept children, we were able to pick up 390 children. <...> This process lasted almost a year. We used to bring the children by plane," Lvova-Belova recalled.

The Commissioner for Children's Rights under the President of the Russian Federation noted that some met their brothers and sisters for the first time right on board. In addition, she stressed that each child chose the family that suited him, in particular, by watching video platforms and communicating via video link.

With the assistance of the Office of the Commissioner for Children's Rights, children regularly find families, including reuniting with relatives. So, in mid-February, two sisters returned from Ukraine to Russia.

Lvova-Belova said that the girls lived in the Ukrainian territory with their grandparents, and their mother worked in Russia and regularly visited them. But after the start of the special military operation (SVO), the woman was no longer able to return to Ukraine for the children.