Vladimir Putin has overseen the deportation of 20,000 Ukrainian children into Russian territory under a false guise, it has been reported.
Troops have allegedly been killing parents, and transporting their offspring. This would be a breach of international law.
Ukrainian Presidential Advisor on Children’s Issues, Daria Herasymchuk, reported on February 2 that Russia has deported at least 20,000 Ukrainian children since 2022, and that Ukraine has repatriated 1,189 with support from humanitarian organisations and Qatar, South Africa, and the Vatican.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) added in its daily report on the conflict that Mr Herasymchuk stated that Russian authorities have killed Ukrainian parents, kidnapped their children, and transported them to “rehabilitation” or “evacuation” camps in occupied Crimea.
Ms Herasymchuk added that Ukraine’s Regional Human Rights Centre identified 13 of these institutions in the region alone.
The territory was annexed by Putin in 2014. The Russian President launched a full scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The ISW added: “Russian authorities reportedly use the camps in occupied Crimea to indoctrinate and militarize Ukrainian children before further deporting them to Russia for adoption.
“Herasymchuk warned that Russian authorities are increasingly attempting to mobilize Ukrainian teenage boys into the Russian military – a violation of the Geneva Convention.”
The ISW added that it has reported extensively on Russia’s “crimes” in occupied Ukraine, including the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Experts add that the United Nations Genocide Convention Article 2 defines “forcibly transferring children of a group to another group” as “an act constituting genocide”.
Reports also suggest that Russian forces are forcibly mobilising civilians in occupied Ukraine into the Russian military.
Ukraine’s Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) reported on February 2 that Putin’s occupation authorities deployed around 300 Ukrainian civilians from the occupied Kherson and Zaporizhia regions to the Russian military between October 31 and December 31, 2024.
