Kyiv urges Russians not to adopt Ukraine's 'stolen' children

FILE PHOTO: Children remove their shoes at a facility for people with special needs, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine, June 6, 2022. REUTERS/Edgar Su

(Reuters) - Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk urged Russians on Tuesday not to adopt children who she said were "stolen" in Ukraine during the war and deported to Russia.

The war that Russia has been waging on its neighbour for 13 months now has seen millions of people displaced, including families and children. The real number of children who have been forcefully deported to Russia is impossible to establish.