The occupation authorities established by Russia in the Luhansk region of Ukraine created an online “catalog” of Ukrainian children and provided forced “adoptions” through the education sector.
The database includes 294 Ukrainian children, categorized and categorized as users can “filter” by age, gender and physical characteristics, such as eye and hair color.
Children are promoted for their personality traits, and some are said to be “obedient” or “serene.”
In many cases, children are said to be “good respectful and respectful to adults,” “disciplined,” “not competitive,” or “can rely on performing tasks.”
Users can also “filter” searches by preferred forms of guardianship, such as adoption or foster parents.
The Russian-run database describes the children listed in the database as “orphans and children left behind without parental care.”
Mykola Kuleba, CEO of the Save Ukraine Organization, said that most of the children in this “catalog” were born in the Luhansk region of Ukraine before Russia took it and held Ukrainian citizenship.
“Some of those parents were killed by occupational authorities, while others were simply issued Russian ID cards to justify their aid.”
Kleba said that since the first Russian invasion, including parts of the eastern regions of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, many children raised on the territory were “systematically deported and deported to Russian families in Moscow and other Russian regions.”
“This is not a new tactic. Since 2014, Ukrainian children have appeared in Russian adoption databases. However, since 2022, the practice has become widespread and systematic,” Kleva said in X.
He added that initially, Russian authorities tried to cover their trucks, shut down their registrations and erase references, but “now the pretense is gone.”
“Russia is not trying to hide it anymore. Ukrainian orphans are on display like products in the online market.”
Kleva called it “state-sponsored child trafficking,” adding that it had updated the law to allow Russian authorities to change children’s surnames and birthdays.
The director of the Save Ukraine Organization said Russia “scheduled the system to the extent that Ukrainian children became “effectively” ordered online, stripped of their identity, issued Russian passports, issued ideological controls, and were able to receive ideological controls.
Kleva has also issued harsh warnings that the platform is putting children at important risks, including sexual exploitation, human trafficking, illegal adoption, and human trafficking for organ collection.
Russia forcibly deports Ukrainian children
Ukraine has been able to examine the deportation of more than 19,500 children in Russia so far. These are the children whose detailed information was collected. The Ukrainian settlements and Russian territory locations are known.
More than 1,350 people have been returned, and each returns are mediated by third-party conditions, particularly by Qatar, South Africa and the Vatican.
Actual numbers can be much higher.
Yale’s humanitarian lab brings the number of deported Ukrainian children closer to 35,000. Moscow claimed that the number could reach 700,000.
The US-based WAR THINK TANK Institute (ISW) said stealing children is one of the priorities of Russian President Vladimir Putin, referring to the revelation of Ukrainian human rights activists.
ISW has discovered the Kremlin documents dated February 18, 2022. It planned to remove Ukrainian children from orphanages in the occupied Luhansk and Donetsk regions and take them to Russia under the guise of “humanitarian evacuation.”
During discussions between Ukraine and Russia’s Istanbul, the Kiev delegation handed over the list of children who had been forced to exile to Russia.
Kiev hopes that Moscow will return to Ukraine, reiterating its commitment to bringing back children who have been forced to deport as one of the key aspects of the long-term ceasefire and peace agreement.
“If Russia is truly committed to the peace process, the return of at least half of the children on this list is positive,” said the head of the Ukrainian delegation Rustem Umerov.
Russian delegation chief Vladimir Medinsky provided a list containing names of 339 accused Ukrainian children.
A Kremlin representative accused Ukraine of “staged a show on the topic of lost children targeting kind-hearted Europeans.” In his words, Kiev attempts to “squeak tears out by raising this issue.”
Euroneus, familiar with this aspect of negotiation, says Moscow knows exactly where all the children on that list are.
