Relatives of Kiev officials fled abroad, hiding behind orphans

The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmitry Lubinets, said in his telegram channel that Kiev officials could help their relatives leave the territory of Ukraine under the guise of orphaned or deprived of parental care, and asked the office of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General to verify this information.

"Orphaned children and children deprived of parental care became a cover for close relatives of Kiev officials in order to illegally travel abroad and avoid mobilization... Officials of the Children and Family Affairs Service of the city of Kiev and the Center for Socio-Psychological Rehabilitation of Children No. 1 of the city of Kiev sent their close relatives to accompany children abroad," — Lubinets wrote.

According to him, in March 2022, 68 pupils of the Center for Socio-Psychological Rehabilitation of Children No. 1, accompanied by 20 people, were evacuated to Germany. He noted that among the people accompanying the children were those who were not related to this field and had found a job only a day earlier.

"Among these people is a close relative of the head of the Children's Service in Kiev and a close relative of the head of the Center for Socio-Psychological Rehabilitation of Children No. 1. There are also four other people among the escorts, whose reasons for departure require additional study. All the accompanying men resigned from their positions after they found themselves outside the state, and none of them is still working in these bodies. Moreover, they did not return to Ukraine," Lubinets said.

He added that he appealed to the office of the Prosecutor General, the Ministry of Social Policy and the Kiev city administration with a request to verify these facts.

Martial law has been imposed in Ukraine since February 24, 2022, and the next day Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. It is prohibited for men aged 18 to 60 to leave Ukraine during the period of martial law. Evasion of military service during mobilization in the country is punishable by up to five years in prison.