Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has forcibly transferred at least 314 Ukrainian children to Russian families, including 67 who have been granted Russian citizenship.
Source: glavcom
Such data are provided in a report by the Yale University Humanitarian Research Laboratory entitled “Russia’s Systematic Program of Forced Adoption and Guardianship of Ukrainian Children,” Zmina reports.
The study found that the Russian side:
- Transferred 314 children from the occupied Ukrainian territories to Russian families.
- At least 148 children were placed in Russian adoption centers.
42 children have already been placed under guardianship or for adoption. - 67 children have had Russian citizenship forcibly imposed on them.
- The children were placed in at least 21 regions of Russia.
Experts emphasize that this data is incomplete due to the impossibility of full access to the profiles of all children in the adoption databases and potential cases.
Onysiya Synyuk, legal analyst at the Zmina Human Rights Center, emphasized:
“No humanitarian considerations justify the transfer of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation, imposing citizenship on them and entering them into adoption databases. These actions indicate criminal intentions to conceal the crime and deprive children of their Ukrainian identity.”
According to Reuters, the program to remove Ukrainian children used funds and aircraft controlled by Russian President Vladimir Putin. This policy is aimed at depriving children of their Ukrainian identity and assimilating them into Russian society.
According to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia has deported more than 20,000 Ukrainian children, of whom less than a thousand have been returned.
The Ukrainian leader noted that 40 countries have already joined the international coalition working to return deported children. However, he emphasized the need to involve large countries in this initiative.
The forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russian families is a violation of international law and an act of genocide aimed at destroying Ukrainian identity. The actions of the Russian authorities are condemned by the international community and require further legal and diplomatic measures to protect the rights of Ukrainian children.
