‘Child abductions’ are Russian plan to weaken Ukraine, says UK envoy

Melinda Simmons, the UK’s ambassador to Ukraine, said children were subject to ‘relentless brainwashing’. Photograph: Ed Ram/The Guardian

Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, has characterised Russia’s alleged mass abduction of children from Ukraine as a deliberate strategy to sever ties between Ukraine and the “next generation that will defend the country”.

Simmons told the Ukrainian news outlet ArmyInform that the alleged abductions were part of its “hybrid invasion” of the country.