In the midst of Russia’s jubilant celebration of its one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, a 15-year-old girl named Anya Naumenko took the stage. Anya, with her thick black hair and gray hooded jacket, expressed her gratitude to “Uncle Yuri,” a Russian soldier who she believed had saved her, her sister, and countless other children in Mariupol. However, there was something unsettling about the way she spoke, as if she had been forced to memorize her words. Anya timidly admitted that she had forgotten a part of her speech, but a woman in a red coat quickly covered for her mistake and urged her to hug Uncle Yuri. It was a staged event that aired on CNN, but to Nathaniel Raymond, the executive director of Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, it was nothing short of a hostage video.
These children, forcefully taken from Ukraine and subjected to Russian influence and indoctrination, are the potential victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity. They have become pawns in Russia’s hostile actions, going against international humanitarian laws such as the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Russian authorities have even taken deliberate steps to conceal the origins of these Ukrainian children, making it difficult for them to be traced or reunited with their families. To Ukrainian advocates, this is a clear indication that Russia has no intention of ever returning these children. They are being groomed to become Russian, even if it means they have to remain in orphanages.
The plight of these children only came to light when iStories, a Russian dissident outlet, exposed their presence in a public Russian adoption database. It was revealed that these children were being forced to sew camouflage nets for the Russian military and, in some cases, were even made to join the military themselves. The backlash from this revelation prompted Russia to remove all information about the Ukrainian children from the database. Fortunately, open-source intelligence investigators managed to gather a significant amount of data from the database before it was scrubbed. These investigators are using various sources, including social media and satellite imagery, to track the whereabouts of these missing children.
The Ukrainian government estimates that approximately 19,500 children have been taken to Russia since the start of the war. The exact number is unknown, and it is challenging to keep track of these children as their parents have either been killed or lost contact with them due to the constant movement orchestrated by Russia. Some parents in eastern Ukraine initially sent their children to camps, believing it would keep them safe or provide them with adequate food. However, these camps turned out to be a guise for luring the children away from their families and into Russia. Regardless of the conditions in these camps, it is considered a war crime.
There are dozens of these camps scattered across Russia, specializing in political reeducation and, according to some reports, even military training. When Ukrainian parents attempt to bring their children home from these camps, they are often met with obstacles and told their children will remain in Russia. The Russian Federation is actively impeding the return of Ukrainian children and is preparing for the possibility of adopting these children legally.
Not all Ukrainian children in Russia arrived through the camps. Some were evacuees, removed from areas of Ukraine that were unsafe due to Russian shelling. Others were separated from their parents at filtration camps or raiding of orphanages by Russian troops. Many of these so-called orphans actually have parents who placed them temporarily in orphanages during times of hardship, expecting to reclaim them later. However, Russia does not actively facilitate the return of these children. The younger the child, the bleaker the prospects of a reunion with their Ukrainian families. International law grants rights to children separated from their parents during wartime, and the warring parties have a responsibility to protect them. However, Russia has been non-compliant with these obligations.
Ukrainian parents who wish to retrieve their children from Russia face significant challenges and financial barriers. They must travel through third countries, such as Poland or Belarus, bringing extensive documentation to prove their parental rights. The journey is often made by mothers or grandmothers, as men risk being detained at filtration camps. Less than 400 children have managed to return to Ukraine under these circumstances, according to the Ukrainian government. Ukrainian NGOs assisting families of missing children also face immense obstacles in their efforts to locate and reunite these families.
The situation of the Ukrainian children taken to Russia is a grave violation of international humanitarian law, with the potential for long-term damage. These children are being systematically stripped of their identity and forcibly assimilated into Russian culture. While efforts are being made to track and expose this injustice, much more needs to be done to ensure the safe return of these children to their rightful homes in Ukraine.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
