One of Vladimir Putin’s mouthpieces has waded into the case of a British toddler who is feared to have been ‘abducted’ by his Russian mother.
Oliver Pugh was last spotted in the Spanish city of Marbella on July 4 and was reported missing by his father, who is from the UK.
His parents were separated but living in the southern region of Costa del Sol, Metro reported earlier this week.
A court order is understood to have been in place banning the boy being removed from the country.
Kremlin-funded state propaganda media columnist Vladimir Kornilov said today on his Telegram channel: ‘It is suspected that she [the mother] took her son to Russia.
‘This, of course, is not yet a fact.
‘But if this is indeed the case, it seems to me that we must do everything possible to protect the mother’s right to be with her Russian child.’
It is not immediately clear if the child has joint Russian citizenship, or if an international arrest warrant has been issued for his mother.
There has been no official comment from the Russian authorities about his whereabouts and if Oliver and his mother are indeed in the country.
He is described as 2ft 7in tall, and has blond hair and distinctive grey eyes.
Spain’s National Police have asked for anyone with information to contact them.
Spanish authorities and the country’s National Centre for Missing Persons have issued a joint appeal for members of the public to help locate him.
Anyone with information has been urged to contact police, with the centre adding: ‘Citizen collaboration is crucial in these cases.’
A spokesperson from the force confirmed that the case is being treated as a ‘parental abduction’.
The statement added: ‘We believe the mother has left Spain and has taken the boy to her homeland, which is Russia.’
Neither the mother nor the father has been named.
The Foreign Office said it is ‘supporting the family of a British child who has been reported missing in Spain’.
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