Russia Changes Ukrainian Children’s Identities
Russia’s adoption program for Ukrainian children is “systematic and widespread,” according to new research from Yale University. The study found that 314 children were illegally transferred from occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Many of these children had their identities changed, making it harder for Ukraine to find them. Ukraine estimates that almost 20,000 children have been taken away from their families and sent to Russia. But the real number could be much higher.
Ukraine’s government is working with international organizations to try to find these children and bring them home. So far, over 1,000 children have been returned through a coalition of countries led by Ukraine and Canada.
Russian officials have refused to give information about the deported children. In fact, Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights said she was “proud” that over 700,000 Ukrainian children had been settled in Russia.
A striking example of this is a girl named Margarita Prokopenko, who was taken from an orphanage in Kherson. She was given a new identity as Marina Mironova and adopted by the family of Russian MP Sergei Mironov.
The situation in Ukraine is dire. Every week, at least 16 children are killed or wounded due to Russian shelling. Millions of people, including minors, have become refugees, and hundreds of thousands of children remain in Russia-controlled territories.
In March this year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.