Early into the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia launched mass deportations of Ukrainian children in order to improve its own demographic situation – especially in the most economically depressed areas of Siberia and the Far East. Often, Ukrainian children are forcibly separated from parents, having their last names changed and adopted by Russian families. The abduction of Ukrainian children has become one of the most disgusting crimes Russians systemically commit in Ukraine.
The return of children illegally removed to Russia will be discussed during the January PACE session. The West showed solidarity with Ukraine as PACE has become an international platform providing additional opportunities for locating Ukrainian children and ensuring their safe return to their families — after all, a little more than 3,000 Ukrainian kids deported to Russia are either orphans or deprived of parental care. The rest were simply snatched from their parents. In total, the terrorist state abducted from Ukraine at least 19,500 children. It should be noted that the real numbers are much higher as Russia had de facto started this practice in Crimea and Donbas back in 2014, and now the Russians have provided no data on the number of children removed from Ukraine since the full-scale incursion. This is an ongoing process that contributes to Ukraine’s depopulation.
Consequently, international pressure on Russia should increase. Worth noting is the decision of the International Criminal Court in The Hague: its arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin was a response to the systematic abductions of Ukrainian children by Russian invasion forces, which undoubtedly act on Kremlin orders. Turning a blind eye to the Russian crimes would encourage other dictatorial regimes to follow in Russia’s footsteps. Therefore Russia sanctions and international isolation of the aggressor state must increase.