photo 6 and 7 in Annexes) prohibiting transfer of children outside of the region. The same order allows relocation of children exclusively to the Russian Federation. During the year, separatists undertook several attempts to take the children outside of Ukraine. For instance, on 12 June 2014, armed people illegally took 16 children from Snizhne children’s home of Donetsk region to Russia through Dolzhanske checkpoint. At the Ukrainian-Russian border, the children had no documents confirming the right to enter the Russian Federation. Due to consolidated efforts of the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Donetsk State Regional Administration, the children returned to Ukraine by the end of the following day on a charter flight. On 26 July 2014, there was an attempt at illegal removal of 61 orphaned children, the chief physician and 12 staff of a children’s home in Luhansk to the Russian Federation. On 27 July 2014, children returned to Ukraine due to joint actions. On 8 August 2014, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights received information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about abduction of 8 Ukrainian children of the above children’s home aged 8 months – 2 years old by an armed terrorist group. The children were undergoing inpatient treatment in a hospital in Luhansk. In a coercive and illegal manner, these children with disabilities were transferred through Izvaryne border checkpoint in Luhansk region to Rostov region of the Russian Federation with no medical supervision or documentation. On 13 August 2014, the children were transferred to representatives of the Ukrainian side – the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and the chief physician of the children’s home. Importantly, following lengthy negotiations with the leaders of the so-called DPR with participation of the public, officials, as well as due to personal intervention by the Commissioner for Human Rights, it was possible to move children from Amvrosiyivka, Maryinka and Donetsk boarding schools that were under the control of the so-called DPR for a long period. In addition, 33 children under the age of three were transferred from Kramatorsk children’s home “Antoshka”, over 80 children from Donetsk city and regional children’s homes, 52 children – from Makiyivka children’s home, and 19 children from Torez city children’s home. We should note that, apart from organization of the evacuation, the problem lies in overlapping authority over these facilities requiring for decisions by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Evacuated persons can be placed only in vacant premises of institutions under the jurisdiction of other agencies, in particular, liquidated schools and vocational schools of social rehabilitation, boarding schools of the educational system etc. For this reason, on 9 February 2015 the Commissioner for Human Rights sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Ukraine requesting the following: Urgent measures for developing the system for evacuation of the said facilities from Donetsk and Luhansk regions to safe region taking into consideration the need to protect the interests of children, care recipients and staff; Ensure redistribution of funding for evacuated facilities from Donetsk and Luhansk regional budgets to the regional budgets of transfer destinations. 20