At least 314 Ukrainian kids coerced into forced adoption by Russia: Report

The report titled ‘Russia’s Systematic Program of the Coerced Adoption and Fostering of Ukraine’s Children’, offers an analysis of Ukrainian children reportedly removed from their homes and placed for adoption in Russia. In light of the report, the Ukrainian government has called on Russia to provide a comprehensive register of all Ukrainian children currently in its custody.

In response to the findings, representatives from the Ukraine Government and Yale HRL will appear in front of a special calling of the United Nations Security Council on December 4.

Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said,“Russia must end its denials of coerced adoption and provide a register of all children from Ukraine it is forcibly detaining. Ukraine will not rest until our children are returned home and those responsible are held accountable.”

The report details the individuals, governmental and non-governmental organisations, legal manoeuvrings, procedures and systems used by Russia to facilitate the adoption and fostering of Ukrainian children, besides also naming four individuals in this regard.

It includes the processes in which Ukrainian children are abducted into Russian government custody, the logistical networks and transportation routes used to move them from Ukraine, including images of the planes transporting children, and the coerced fostering and adoption process used.

“Yale HRL identified and followed 314 individual children; however we know there are thousands of other children who have been forcibly deported by Russia. There are verified reports that show Russia’s systematic adoption and fostering of Ukraine’s children extend far beyond the children and regions identified in this report,” said a statement issued by the Ukraine government on December 3.

The evidence outlined in the report has been handed over to the International Criminal Court, which has arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova on counts for child deportation, the statement added.

This is the third in a series of reports authored by Yale HRL as part of the Conflict Observatory programme that examines Russia’s deportation, re-education, and coerced adoption and fostering of children from Ukraine ever since the conflict broke out in 2022.