10:54, 10 February 2020

Children returned from Syria handed over to relatives in Chechnya

War in Syria. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

A brother and a sister brought among other children from Syria to Moscow have been handed over in Grozny to their relatives, the Chechen Ministry for National Policy has reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 7, it became known that 26 children had been returned from Syria to Russia.

The returned children originate from Astrakhan, Dagestan, Chechnya, Orenburg and the Sverdlovsk Region, Anna Kuznetsova, the Russian Children's Ombudsperson, has specified. According to her story, nine other children will be returned to Russia in the near future, while 73 children are prepared for transportation from Syria.

In Syria, the brother and sister returned to Grozny were kept in the Al-Khol camp. After the death of their parents, a female compatriot looked after them; thanks to her the whereabouts of the children became known, the "Grozny-Inform" News Agency has reported.

The children's father, a native of the Urus-Martan District, left Chechnya for Syria several years ago. "He was wanted for participating in an illegal armed formation (IAF) and was killed during warfare. His wife also died in Syria," a Chechen law enforcement source said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 9, 2020 at 10:46 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondent