Ukraine’s ambassador accuses Russia of perpetrating “the largest state-run child abduction operation in history”

Eduardo González The Ukrainian ambassador to Spain, Yuliia Sokolovska, denounced on Tuesday the forced deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia, which "can be considered the largest state-run child abduction operation in history," and thanked the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, "of which Spain is also a member," for its joint efforts in returning "more than 2,100 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, 150 of them since the beginning of this year." The ambassador made these remarks during a conference on the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, held in the Old Senate Chamber and presided over by the Speaker of the Upper House, Peter Rollan. Participants included Ivan Matkovskyi and Ivan Sarancha, two young Ukrainians who managed to return to Ukraine, and Daria Herasymchuck, advisor and commissioner to the President of Ukraine for Children's Rights and Child Rehabilitation. Since 2015, Russia has systematically abducted thousands of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, separating them from their homes and families. Russia alters the identifying information of these children and places many of them with Russian families in order to erase their Ukrainian identity. Furthermore, Moscow rejects requests for information about these children and prevents humanitarian access to their locations both in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. To date, some 2,000 minors have been returned to Ukraine through rescue missions and international cooperation, but thousands remain in Russian captivity. Pedro Rollán During his speech, Pedro Rollán denounced that “what Russia is doing is one of the most despicable actions that can take place.” “The Geneva Convention, signed in 1949, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibit the practice we are denouncing today,” he warned. According to Rollán, “there is evidence and reports from institutions, NGOs, and journalists that demonstrate that Russia forcibly transferred thousands of young Ukrainians to its territories, minors whose names have been changed to hinder their identification, to prevent them from being found, to prevent them from returning to the place they should never have left, which is their family environment and their country, and who have been handed over to Russian families with the aim of Russifying them.” “These documents even state that they were forced to sing the Russian national anthem, participate in propaganda events, and were also forbidden from speaking their native language. They have been robbed of their homes, their culture, their history, and their identity,” he denounced. “According to the United Nations, these forced transfers of minors constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity,” he warned. “The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights,” whom it “accuses of being responsible for war crimes for the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia,” he added. “But there is also room for hope, as more than 1,500 minors have already returned home to their families, and on April 20, an investigation coordinated by Europol led to the location of 45 more children,” he continued. Ambassador For her part, the ambassador stressed the need to “do everything possible, and even more, to ensure that every Ukrainian child illegally deported by Russia returns home.” “This issue is of crucial importance for the future of Ukraine, because Russia systematically militarizes our children, subjects them to forced adoptions, exposes them to ideological influence, and tries to deprive them of their Ukrainian identity,” she denounced. “This is important for the whole world, because it constitutes a serious violation of the foundations of international law and basic humanitarian principles,” she added. “Thanks to a joint operation involving 18 countries, including Spain, as well as the International Criminal Court, 45 Ukrainian children who were forcibly transferred or deported to Russia and Belarus were identified,” the ambassador noted. “This is an extremely important result, but at the same time it demonstrates the magnitude of the problem, since it represents only a small fraction of the total number of abducted children—children whose names, surnames, histories, and sense of belonging are changed,” she warned. “In total, thanks to the joint efforts of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, of which Spain is also a member, more than 2,100 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia have been returned, 150 of them since the beginning of this year,” Yuliia Sokolovska stated. “However, thousands remain under Russian control, in uncertainty, alone, and, worst of all, with a feeling of abandonment due to a lack of information,” she continued. According to the ambassador, “the policy of the Russian Federation exhibits genocidal characteristics, and every Ukrainian feels this.” “International investigations have already established that some of these children are in so-called re-education camps, in psychiatric institutions, or are given up for adoption to Russian families,” she reported. “We must be clear: the illegal deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children is not a collateral consequence of the war, but a systematic state policy of Russia; the forced deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia can be considered the largest state-sponsored child abduction operation in history,” Sokolovska asserted. “This crime must be investigated, and those responsible must be brought to justice,” the ambassador warned. “The European Union, the United States, Canada, and Ukraine have imposed sanctions on 152 people involved in the illegal deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children, and recently, at the United Nations level, these actions have been clearly classified as crimes against humanity,” she continued. “This is an extremely important step, but this work must continue,” she stated. “It is necessary to act decisively, bring those responsible to justice, strengthen international pressure and guarantee the return of every kidnapped child to their home,” she insisted.

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