While conducting investigations, law enforcers established that Russia deported 9,400 Ukrainian children from the territory of Ukraine, which is both a war crime and an element of genocide, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin has said.

"It was established during investigations that 9,400 children were deported by Russia from the territory of Ukraine. We realize that the number of children who suffered from such crimes might be much higher. All information on the issue that comes to us is verified during the pre-trial investigation," he said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

Kostin also said that the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide explicitly states that the forcible transfer of children from one national group to another with the aim of destroying the former is a crime of genocide.

"Therefore, when investigating these cases, in particular, when collecting evidence, we are guided by the fact that such facts constitute both a war crime and an element of genocide," the Prosecutor General said.