Russia begins mass deportation of Ukrainian children six days before full-scale war
18 February 2025 20:39
Six days before the full-scale invasion, on February 18, 2022, Russia began mass deportations of Ukrainian children.
This was announced by the head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to him, more than 2,700 children, mostly children from orphanages and boarding schools, were taken to Russia by the morning of February 19. Their names, date and place of birth were falsified and they were issued Russian passports.
“Some children were later placed in foster families or given up for adoption, tearing them away from their native land forever. Russia justifies these actions by “saving them from danger,” but it is Russia that created this danger,” Yermak said.
He emphasized that the fact that Russia began abducting Ukrainian children even before the full-scale invasion proves that it was a planned crime to erase the Ukrainian identity of children and forcefully assimilate them.
“Russia is trying to disguise this crime as evacuation due to danger. But the truth is that the danger to our children was created and continues to be created by Russia itself.
Deportation is not an evacuation. This is a war crime and a crime against humanity, for which Russia must be punished,” the head of the OP emphasized.
According to him, 1221 children have already been returned, but thousands still remain hostages of the Russian Federation. Ukraine continues to fight for the return of every child abducted by Russia. No exceptions. No conditions.
Earlier, Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that during the full-scale invasion, the Russian Federation deported or forcibly transferred 19,546 Ukrainian children. At the same time, 1,012 children were returned.
In February, Daria Zarivna, an adviser to the head of the Presidential Office, said that since the beginning of 2025, 31 children who had been abducted by Russians had been returned.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on journalists to take a more active part in the search for and return to Ukraine of children illegally deported by Russian invaders.
