THIS is the moment diplomats from the UK and other countries stormed out as a Russian mum branded “Putin’s child catcher” spoke at a UN meeting.
Ex-music teacher Maria Lvova-Belova, 38, is wanted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court – accused of abducting children from Ukraine and sending them to Russia.
ReutersSeveral ambassadors left the room as Marie Lvova-Belova, top right of screen, started speaking[/caption]
AFPVladimir Putin and his ‘child catcher” Lvova-Belova[/caption]
She demanded an informal UN meeting to focus on “evacuating children from conflict zones”.
But Britain and the US blocked the informal conference from being webcast by the UN.
Diplomats from the countries and from Malta and Albania promptly left the room as Lvova-Belova started speaking to UN Security Council members by video.
US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the US joined Britain in blocking the webcast so Lvova-Belova did not have “an international podium to spread disinformation and to try to defend her horrible actions that are taking place in Ukraine”.
After returning to the room after Lvova-Belova had spoken, British diplomat Asima Ghazi-Bouillon told the meeting: “Russia claims it is protecting these children.
“Instead this is a calculated policy that seeks to erase Ukrainian identity and statehood.”
During her statement, Lvova-Belova showed footage of Ukrainian children in Russia, then said: “I want to stress that unlike the Ukrainian side, we don’t use children for propaganda.”
The ICC last month issued arrest warrants for Lvova-Belova and Vladimir Putin over their alleged involvement in the abductions of children from Ukraine.
A panel of judges agreed that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Vlad and his children’s rights commissioner bore responsibility for the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.
An investigation by The Sun into Ukraine’s missing children back in September revealed that thousands of children have been deported during Putin’s invasion.
Ukraine’s human rights chief, Dmytro Lubinets, has said 16,226 children were deported and the country has managed to bring back just 308 of them.
Footage meanwhile emerged of Lvova-Belova bragging about talking about how she took a boy from Ukraine during a meeting with Putin.
Since being appointed Putin’s children’s commissioner in 2021, she has portrayed the forced deportation of Ukrainian children as a Russian rescue mission.
She has adopted 18 children and also five biological kids with her husband, a Russian Orthodox priest.
Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said last month that the informal meeting had been planned long before the ICC announcement.
He said it was not intended to be a rebuttal of the charges against Putin and Lvova-Belova.
Diplomats have said it is rare for a UN webcast to be blocked.
ReutersLvova-Belova had demanded an informal UN meeting to focus on ‘evacuating children from conflict zones’[/caption]
ReutersThe ICC last month issued arrest warrants for Lvova-Belova and Putin[/caption]