EU foreign policy chief Kallas says Russia has illegally deported more than 20,500 Ukrainian children under a policy 'approved by Putin himself'

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Wednesday that Russia's deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied territory is "Russian government policy, approved by Putin himself," and that "over 20,500 children have been illegally deported."

Speaking at a European Parliament debate in Brussels, in remarks carried by Deutsche Welle, Kallas said the treatment of Ukrainian children over the last four years "is the clearest example of Russia's total disregard of life."

"In a sick and twisted turn of events, it is likely that stolen Ukrainian children are now being sent back by Russia to fight against Ukraine," she said. As of this month, she added, 2,790 Ukrainian children have been returned, including 13 children and teenagers last week. One of them, Luka, "had just reached 18 and received Russian military draft notice," she said.

The figures and the warning that children may be sent to fight are Kallas's account. The Deutsche Welle clip of her opening remarks does not itself document individual cases beyond the draft notice she described.