11:15, 11 February 2019

Twenty-seven Russian children get back from Iraq

Children going to school, Baghdad (Iraq), December 16, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani

27 children from Russia aged from four to 13 years were brought to Moscow from Iraq. The children had been kept in a prison in Baghdad, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has stated.

The aircraft with Russian children, whose mothers stay imprisoned in Iraqi prison, landed in Moscow on February 10, the RBC reports citing the press service of the Russian President's Ombudsperson.

The 27 children originate from ten Russian regions.

The children were held together with their mothers in one of Baghdad's prisons, the "Chechnya Today" reports, citing Ramzan Kadyrov.

From the airport, the children were taken to the Child Health Research Centre, after which they were transferred to their guardian relatives, the RIA "Novosti" reports, citing the children's ombudsperson Anna Kuznetsova.

According to her story, there are still about fifty Russian children kept in Iraq.

"Not earlier than in six weeks, there will be a first understanding of how and when the removal of (children) will take place," the RIA "Novosti" quotes Ms Ombudsperson as saying.

According to various estimates, hundreds or even thousands of children from Dagestan, Chechnya and other regions of the Caucasus may still be in Iraq and Syria. Their lives and health are in particular danger after the "Islamic State" (IS, earlier ISIL, a terrorist organization banned in Russia by a court judgement) began suffering massive defeats, according to the article "Caliphate children: what awaits them after IS" written by the "Caucasian Knot".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 11, 2019 at 04:43 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.