The Russian occupation authorities have openly announced the massive placement of Ukrainian children in the families of Russian citizens. As it became known, from 2022 to 2024, 42 children from the Kherson region, who had been under occupation since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, were placed under the care of Russian families.
This was reported by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets.
Concealment of information and forced removal of children
According to Lubinets, the Russian authorities have long concealed information about the fate of children from Kherson region and refused to provide any data to the Ukrainian side. This was especially true of the children from the Kherson Regional Children’s Home.
Back in 2022, employees of this institution tried to save the children by hiding them in the basement of a church. However, later, FSB officers found them and forcibly took them to the occupied Crimea. The children were placed in the Yalynka orphanage, which is known for cases of ill-treatment of children.
Illegal adoption and attempts to change their identity
According to the available information, the profiles of some children later appeared in the Russian federal database for adoption. It is known that there are still 10 children from the Kherson region in the Yalynka orphanage, for whom the occupation authorities are actively looking for new “families”.
Lubinets emphasized that most of these children had parents or legal representatives in Ukraine. However, the Russians deliberately ignored this fact in order to artificially create conditions for their forced adoption in Russia.
Violation of international law and war crime
“Such actions constitute a gross violation of international law, Geneva Convention IV and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The deportation of Ukrainian children and their forced transfer to Russian families is a war crime for which the perpetrators must be held accountable!” Lubinets said.
Ukraine continues to fight for the return of all illegally deported children, drawing the attention of the international community to this crime and demanding fair punishment for the perpetrators.
