Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has forcibly removed thousands of Ukrainian minors from their families, their homes, and their homeland. These children have not only been abducted but, on a disturbing scale, put up for adoption in Russia.
The numbers are shocking: there are reports of 19,546 unlawful deportations and forced transfers of minors. The true figure may be far higher – estimates range from tens of thousands to Moscow’s claim of up to 700,000 children taken.
Care as Pretext – Child Trafficking as Reality
Deportations occur through several tactics: minors are violently separated from their parents, often during so-called “filtration processes,” or simply kidnapped from their homes, schools, and orphanages. Although Russian databases list them as “orphans or children without parental care,” many still have families and/or Ukrainian citizenship.
Russian authorities defend the abductions as humanitarian acts, but Kyiv calls the adoption practice a “weapon of war.” Victims’ accounts reveal the coercion: a 15-year-old says she was told she was being evacuated, only to hear soon after that she must stay “indefinitely.” A 12-year-old reports being told his mother did not need him and that he would be placed with a Russian foster family.
The Digital Slave Catalog
Most shocking is the method used to offer these children for adoption. In occupied regions such as Luhansk, Russia has set up an online adoption database listing profiles of nearly 300 Ukrainian minors—displayed like products on an online marketplace. Prospective users can “filter” them by specific physical traits:
- Age and gender
- Eye and hair color
- Health status
- Personality description
The profiles advertise traits such as “obedient,” “calm,” “disciplined,” or “reliable in completing tasks.” Mykola Kuleba, head of the organization Save Ukraine, condemned the site as “digital child trafficking disguised as bureaucracy” and a “slave catalog.”
Identity Theft: Genocide of the Next Generation
The core act of this trafficking is to erase the children’s true origins and wipe out their Ukrainian identity:
1. Forced naturalization: The abducted minors are granted Russian citizenship.
2. Document alteration: Adoptive parents may change the children’s full names, birth dates, and birthplaces, making tracing and repatriation nearly impossible.
3. Indoctrination: Youths are often sent to re-education camps where they undergo Russian propaganda and military training. They are forced to sing the Russian national anthem and are told that Ukraine will soon cease to exist.
Historian Olha Skrypnyk of the Crimean Human Rights Group stresses that this genocidal policy steals children who guarantee the survival of the Ukrainian nation.
Accountability and Return
In response to these “abhorrent and horrific” acts, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued international arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over evidence of forced adoption and deportation.
Returning the children is extremely difficult. To date, only 1,605 abducted minors have been brought back from deportation, forced transfers, or temporarily occupied areas. Efforts are often mediated by third parties such as Qatar or the Vatican.
The international community, including the European Parliament, condemns this “genocidal strategy” and demands that Russia disclose the identities and locations of all deported Ukrainian minors and ensure their safe, unconditional return.
Organizations like Bring Kids Back UA and Save Ukraine work tirelessly to identify the abducted children, locate their whereabouts, and reunite them with their families in safe environments.
Returning these children and holding the perpetrators accountable are essential conditions for any genuine peace agreement.
Translated by Julia Matzinger
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