Moment British envoy storms out of UN meeting as Putin’s ‘child catcher’, wanted for kidnapping Ukrainian children, speaks

This is the moment diplomats from the UK and other countries stormed out as a Russian mother dubbed “Putin’s child catcher” spoke at a UN meeting.

Former music teacher Maria Lvova-Belova, 38, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes – accused of kidnapping children from Ukraine and sending them to Russia.

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She called for an informal UN meeting to focus on “evacuation of children from conflict zones”.

But Britain and the US prevented the informal conference from being webcast by the UN.

Diplomats from the countries, as well as Malta and Albania, promptly left the room as Lvova-Belova began speaking to UN Security Council members via video.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the US had joined Britain in blocking the webcast so Lvova-Belova would not have an “international podium to spread disinformation and attempt to replicate her horrific actions.” to defend that are taking place in Ukraine”.

After Lvova-Belova spoke, British diplomat Asima Ghazi-Bouillon returned to the room and told the meeting: “Russia claims it is protecting these children.

“Instead, this is a calculated policy aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity and statehood.”

During her statement, Lvova-Belova showed footage of Ukrainian children in Russia and then said: “I would like to emphasize that, unlike the Ukrainian side, we do not use children for propaganda purposes.”

The ICC last month issued arrest warrants for Lvova-Belova and Vladimir Putin over their alleged involvement in kidnapping children from Ukraine.

A panel of judges agreed that there was “reasonable reason” to believe that Vlad and his child rights officer were responsible for the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.

An investigation by The Sun into missing children in Ukraine in September found thousands of children were deported during Putin’s invasion.

Ukraine’s human rights chief Dmytro Lubinets said 16,226 children had been deported and the country managed to bring back only 308 of them.

Meanwhile, footage surfaced of Lvova-Belova boasting that during a meeting with Putin she spoke about kidnapping a boy from Ukraine.

Since her appointment as Putin’s children’s envoy in 2021, she has portrayed the forced deportation of Ukrainian children as a Russian bailout.

With her husband, a Russian Orthodox priest, she adopted 18 children and five biological children.

Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said last month that the informal meeting had been planned well before the ICC’s announcement.

He said it was not intended to refute the allegations against Putin and Lvova-Belova.

Diplomats have said it’s rare for a UN webcast to be blocked.

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