Ukraine suspends international adoptions - ombudsman

KYIV. May 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukraine has suspended international adoptions for the period of the crisis, but it is grateful to partner countries which give shelter to Ukrainian children, the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada's human rights commissioner Liudmyla Denisova said.

"There have been requests from a large number of states willing to adopt our children, but there is also [Ukrainian] Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal's note that we have suspended all international adoptions, because a child has left [Ukraine] and may be considered an orphan, but the child's parents may be found," Denisova told Ukrainian journalists in Davos.

There are no problems with Ukrainian children who have left for partner countries, and Ukraine is grateful to these countries for offering shelter to Ukrainian children and for ensuring their security, she said.

"Later, there will be time to grant appropriate status to them [Ukrainian children] and to make a decision on their future," she said.