The Lithuanian government plans to begin providing rehabilitation and psychiatric services to Ukrainian children who are being returned from Russia this autumn. The program is planned after Kyiv’s request for support and aims to comprehensively help the children recover from the traumas they experienced.
“We are already at the technical stage, namely we are deciding when the children will be able to start traveling to Lithuania”
– Skirmantas Krunkaitis
According to the Lithuanian Ministry of Health, the children will undergo a course of treatment in medical rehabilitation facilities and will receive psychiatric help to mitigate the effects of forced deportation and to promote full recovery.
“Children must meet certain rehabilitation criteria… This is either mobility rehabilitation or respiratory rehabilitation. The main criterion is the presence of medical indications. And most importantly – the presence in Ukraine of specific groups of children who were abducted and taken to Russia”
– Skirmantas Krunkaitis
Minors will arrive in Lithuania together with their parents, guardians, or other accompanying persons. Accommodation and meals for them will also be provided.
In addition, the minister’s adviser noted that Lithuania would accept as many children as the capacity of the country’s medical facilities would allow.
“Preliminarily, we can say that we will accept about 15-20 children per month across all of Lithuania’s health care facilities”
– Skirmantas Krunkaitis
Journalists estimate that, in total, about 150 children per year will be admitted. Providing the necessary services together with accompanying persons will require about 400 thousand euros per year.
In 2025, costs for these services (up to 100 thousand euros) are planned to be offset through loans, and in 2026 – through the European Union or other funding sources.
What is known about the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia
The President’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Darya Herasymchuk, previously said that as of the end of March 2023, Ukrainian authorities were aware of more than 19,500 children who were taken from the temporarily occupied territories to Russia, but the exact number is difficult to determine due to the occupation.
On April 5, 2023, 49 countries in a joint statement condemned Russia for organizing a United Nations Security Council meeting on allegedly legal grounds for abducting Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories.
The United Kingdom blocked the broadcast of Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights Lvova-Belova’s remarks on UN platforms, urging her to answer for her actions before a court in The Hague.
The Office of the Prosecutor General notes that there is currently no single transparent algorithm or mechanism for returning Ukrainian children deported to Russia.
On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of illegal deportation and relocation of Ukrainian children.
Lithuania’s plan to provide rehabilitation and psychiatric services to children returning from Russia demonstrates the EU and international community’s commitment to protecting the rights of children who have suffered forced deportation.