During the visit of the Ukrainian delegation to Argentina, teenagers Ivan Matkovsky and Vladyslav Buriak shared their stories of surviving Russian atrocities.
The delegation, led by the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights and Child Rehabilitation Daria Gerasimchuk, visited Argentina this week.
The visit was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine as part of the «Bring Kids Back UA» action plan initiated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
The visit was a continuation of the dialogue initiated by President Zelensky with President of Argentina Javier Milei.
Daria Gerasimchuk and Ukrainian Ambassador to Argentina Yuri Klymenko met with representatives of the Argentine government, including the Deputy Minister of Justice for Human Rights Alberto Julio Banos and the Deputy Secretary for Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism of the Buenos Aires Autonomous City Government Pamela Malevich.
The Ukrainian delegation also held meetings at the EU Delegation with its head Amador Sanchez Rico and ambassadors of EU countries, with the ombudsman for the rights of minors and persons with disabilities Attilio Alvarez, as well as with representatives of the Legislature of Buenos Aires, the Ukrainian community, diplomats, students, teachers, experts, and local media.
During the meeting with the leadership of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ukrainian ambassador thanked the Argentine side for joining Buenos Aires in implementing points 1 and 5 of the Ukrainian Formula for Peace and emphasized the importance of Argentina joining the International Coalition for the return of Ukrainian children, which already includes 36 countries.
In discussing the fate of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia and their return, the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights emphasized the importance of point 4 of the Peace Formula for the future of Ukraine.
She stressed the importance of Argentina’s voice in the Coalition of countries, as Argentina has its own traumatic memories and lost childhoods. Gerasimchuk highlighted the suffering of Ukrainian children from Russian aggression today, and stressed the need to unite efforts to save them and create a new effective system for child protection worldwide.
