Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereschuk, who is also the Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, has said that Russia changes the names and birth dates of illegally deported Ukrainian children.

"In Russia, where they hide them [Ukrainian children] in all regions, change their identity, change their names, surnames, birth dates, they are doing everything to assimilate them, and in fact they are committing an act of genocide in relation to our children, Russifying them by force, issuing the so-called passports, doing everything so that children forget about their native land, forget their language, forget their culture and accept, as they say, a new reality," she said at a conference entitled "UA: War. Unfinished Lullaby" on Wednesday.

Vereschuk stressed that Ukraine needs massive international support in the issue of returning Ukrainian children, including those who have statuses.

"We need pressure on Russia. We must find mechanisms as soon as possible. Every day children stay there means a minus to their future, loss of their identity," she said.