Vladimir Putin has signed a decree making it possible to confer Russian citizenship on Ukrainian children taken to Russia.
The Ukrainian authorities have identified more than 19,000 children who have been deported since February 2022.
Only 387 children have been brought back, said the Ukrainian national database Children of war.
Ukraine’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said Moscow was granting citizenship to the children so they are not regarded as Ukrainians who have been transferred to Russia. Moscow’s decree says a citizenship application can be submitted by a child’s legal guardian or a Russian organisation responsible for the child.
Ukraine claimed Russia has a policy of forced assimilation of children. However, Moscow has insisted it is moving children out of harm’s way as the war rages on.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the policy.
