Forced evacuation of children from Bakhmut: physical coercion is out of the question, but the evacuation cannot be refused. This was stated by Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, during a National News Telethon. She explained that it was for this purpose that the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution on the forced evacuation of children from the areas of active hostilities.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the forced evacuation of children was an additional tool within the framework of mandatory evacuation, currently in place in Donetsk region only. She also noted that at present, only Bakhmut met the criteria for the forced evacuation of children.

“We are not talking about taking children away from their parents. We are not talking about the use of physical coercion. But the legal feature of the forced evacuation of children is that at least one of the parents has no right to refuse the evacuation and must accompany the child during the evacuation,” Iryna Vereshchuk stressed.

“We should also keep in mind Article 166 of the Criminal Code, which provides that parents may be held criminally liable for deliberately exposing their children to physical danger,” said Iryna Vereshchuk.