**Ukrainian Children Forcibly Deported to Russia**
A study from the Yale School of Public Health has identified 314 children who were forcibly deported from Ukraine to Russia. These children were taken from Russian-occupied areas of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.
Since February 2022, nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted from Russian-occupied territories and sent to other Russian-controlled areas or to Russia itself. The study found that child placement databases in Russia had falsely listed Ukrainian children as if they were born in Russia.
The researchers determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova ordered and facilitated the system of child deportation and forced assimilation into Russian families. The study reported that Russia’s Aerospace Forces transported multiple groups of children in 2022 under Putin’s orders.
**Children Subjected to Re-education**
After deportation, Ukrainian children were subjected to pro-Russia re-education before being placed in Russian families. Psychologists and mental health professionals were involved in the coerced adoption program to help “legitimize” Russia’s human rights abuses.
Over 60 of the 314 children identified in the study have been naturalized as Russian citizens since their abduction. The data gathered in the study will be presented to the International Criminal Court (ICC) as evidence of Russian war crimes.
**Russia’s Actions Considered War Crimes**
The study found that Russia carried out a “systematic, intentional, and widespread” program of forced adoption and Russification of Ukrainian children. This is considered a serious human rights abuse and a war crime by international law.
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