Ukraine has charged a Russian politician and two collaborators with war crimes over the alleged deportation of a dozen orphans.

Prosecutors have alleged the orphans, some as young as one, were deported from the formerly-occupied southern city of Kherson.

Officials said they are the first suspects to be charged by Ukraine, which says more than 19,000 children have been illegally transferred to Russia or Russian-held territory.

Russia denies violating children’s rights and says its forces were rescuing them from conflict zones.