Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to apply sanctions in relation to removal of children from Ukraine by Russia.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Russia's forcible deportation of Ukrainian children is a despicable and systematic attempt to erase Ukrainian identity, and with it, Ukraine's future. We are playing our full part in international efforts to reunite these children with their families. In November 2024, we announced a third round of sanctions targeting those involved in forcibly deporting and indoctrinating Ukrainian children. We do not comment on any potential future designations as to do so could lessen their impact.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to their Russian counterparts regarding the numbers and current locations of the children removed by Russia from Ukraine.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
We have raised this issue with Russia on multiple occasions at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which meets at ambassador-level almost every week. On 29 May, our Ambassador reiterated the need for Russia to return forcibly deported children as critical to achieving a just and lasting peace. We have supported multiple invocations of the OSCE's fact-finding mission, the Moscow Mechanism, to examine Russian human rights abuses in Ukraine. Their May 2023 report focused on Ukrainian children. We have also raised this issue with Russia at the UN Security Council, most recently on 15 May and 8 April.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to support any cases going before any international courts relating to the removal of children from Ukraine by Russia.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued warrants of arrest for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for crimes linked to the deportation of children. It is an independent court and carries out its investigations impartially and without government interference. We are supporting the work of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the ICC to ensure allegations of war crimes in Ukraine are fully and fairly investigated by independent and robust legal mechanisms. We welcome progress made by the ICC in its active investigation, including the arrest warrants for individuals connected to the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support mine clearance in Ukraine with specific reference to the areas surrounding (1) power stations, and (2) electricity substations.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has a £2m agreement with The Halo Trust under the Global Mine Action Programme to undertake mine action activities, including clearance, in Ukraine. The FCDO is also providing demining equipment and training to the State Emergency Services (SES) as part of its £14.5m contribution to the multi-donor Partnership Fund for Resilient Ukraine, and providing £0.6m to the UNDP to help sector coordination. The Ukrainian national mine action authority is responsible for mine clearance tasking, including for critical infrastructure, and can use either national operators like SES or accredited international organisations like the Halo Trust.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many electricity generators they have supplied to Ukraine since February; what are the models of each generator supplied; how they are being distributed; and what is the timetable for their full deployment.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Through the Ukraine Electricity Network Support Taskforce, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has funded the procurement for Ukraine of 856 mobile generators of various models. These have all been delivered to Ukraine, where they are being used to provide power to homes disconnected from the electricity grid. The Prime Minister recently announced £4 million for the International Organisation for Migration in Ukraine. This new support includes the provision of generators for households and collective centres. The UK has also committed £10 million to the Energy Community's Ukraine Energy Support Fund. Since March 2022, the Energy Community has been coordinating business-to-business donations of specialised equipment for repairs, including generators and replacements for damaged infrastructure.