Georgia sends children of guardian charged with trafficking to Ukraine

Georgia has ruled to transfer the children taken to Georgia by Ukrainian citizen Yulia Suslyak to Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities showed readiness to take responsibility for the children’s guardianship and pledged to provide them with all necessary conditions.

Ukrainian national Yulia Suslyak arrived in Georgia with ten children on April 8 and was arrested for child trafficking. She faces 14 to 17 years in jail.

Yulia Suslyak. Photo: 1tv.ge.

Police reported that the woman arrived in Georgia with the children from Russia and planned to move to the occupied territory of Abkhazia.

During the investigation, police found documents for the ten children which all gave her surname as theirs.  

Later, police discovered that four minors are the children of Yulia while the other six belong to Yuri Suslyak.

Ukrainian Presidential Envoy on Children’s Rights Mykola Kuleba arrived in Georgia for the case and held meetings with employees of the Prosecutor's Office and Interior Ministry. 

He said an investigation is also underway in Ukraine and added that the case materials show Suslyak did not provide for the children well and noted one of them died in Russia.

The main thing now is the for the children to return to Ukraine,” he said.

Kuleba stated a charter flight was scheduled for the children to be sent back to Ukraine today.