This was reported by Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mariia Betsa in Strasbourg, according to Suspilne."At least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been deported by Russia. 1.6 million Ukrainian children still live in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Every minute we speak, the abductions continue. So far, we have managed to bring back 1,400 children. But that’s just a drop in the ocean," she said.The deputy foreign minister stressed that since 2014, Russia has been killing, deporting, and abducting Ukrainian children, but since 2022, “this policy has become truly systematic.”Betsa recalled that during technical talks in Istanbul, the Ukrainian side presented a Russian list of 339 children who need to be returned."Even with this list, Russia manipulates. The Russian Federation tried to turn the entire issue into a farce, claiming there are not 20,000 children—only 339. No. This was merely the first step taken by our representatives at the technical meeting in Istanbul—to provide this list and say: 'Help us return 10 children, 20, 100, 150 as a first step, as a decisive initial move to show that Russia is serious about returning Ukrainian children and de-escalating its aggression.' Nothing was done," the diplomat stated.She emphasized that the international community must do more to pressure Moscow, as "children must not be tied to any peace negotiations."In April, reports indicated that Russia was planning to deport another 50,000 Ukrainian children from occupied Donetsk region.