Ukrainian prosecutors have filed charges against three individuals linked to the deportation of 213 children to Russia during the ongoing conflict. The accused include the so-called “Minister of Education and Science of the DPR,” the head of the Donetsk administration, and the director of the boarding school from which the children were taken.
The investigation revealed that the deportation was a premeditated operation. On February 16, 2022, the occupying authorities initiated a so-called “evacuation” process, instructing school leaders to compile lists of children. Two days later, the decision was publicly announced, leading to the transfer of the children to Russia. To date, none of these children have returned, and 78 have reportedly been unlawfully placed with Russian families. General Prosecutor Ruslan Kравченко emphasized that this act constitutes a war crime, not an evacuation.
In March, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, established by the UN, classified the deportation and illegal transfer of children as crimes against humanity. The commission’s recent report detailed findings from the past year, highlighting the ongoing violations occurring in the context of the war.
According to official Ukrainian data, over 20,000 Ukrainian children have ended up in Russia or occupied territories since the start of the full-scale war. However, Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, estimated that around 150,000 children may have been illegally taken to Russia, while the Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Daria Gerasimchuk, suggested the number could be as high as 200,000 to 300,000.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of war crimes related to the forced deportation of children from occupied Ukrainian territories.
In July 2023, Maria Lvova-Belova claimed that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia had “accepted” approximately 4.8 million residents from Ukraine, including over 700,000 children. She asserted that most of these children had arrived in Russia with their parents or relatives.
Ukrainian prosecutors have charged three officials for their roles in the deportation of 213 children to Russia, labeling the act a war crime. This follows a broader investigation into the illegal transfer of children during the ongoing conflict, with estimates suggesting that tens of thousands may have been affected.