Why Russia is stealing Ukrainian children

Back in August of 2023, The New York Times reported it had resulted in the death of 500,000 Russian and Ukrainian troops. The loss of life is staggering, but perhaps the greatest tragedy of all is the story of the stolen children of Ukraine.

Many are not aware that not only is Russian President Vladimir Putin raging a war on Ukrainian adults, but his regime is also actively abducting Ukrainian children.

In June 2023, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, told the media that over 200,000 Ukrainian children had been forcibly deported to Russia or a Russian-occupied territory since February of 2022.

While 200,000 stolen children already is astonishing, others estimate the number to be much higher. The Ukrainian Presidential Advisor on child rights, Daria Herasymchuk told the media that she believes the number could be as high as 300,000.

However, the true number could still be even crazier. According to Radio Free Europe, in a report published on July 30, 2023, Russian children's commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova (pictured) said more than 700,000 Ukrainian children have been taken from Ukraine to Russia since the start of Russia's "special military operation" in the country.

Of course, the Russian government insists that all these Ukrainian children came to Russia due to the express wishes of their parents and relatives. However, hundreds of testimonials from Ukrainian parents seem to indicate otherwise.

According to Reuters, since February 2022, only around 400 Ukrainian children taken to Russian territory without their parents or family's consent have been reunited with their loved ones in Ukraine.

Russia's actions are considered a war crime. And on March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Since the war began in Ukraine, there has been much talk about Putin's responsibility for war crimes committed in the country: from approving the bombing of civilians to torturing Ukrainians in Russian-occupied areas, the eyes of the world have been on Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine.

So, it was unsurprising when the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin and Kremlin official Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova due to their alleged involvement in the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.

However, the International Criminal Court's warrant for Putin's arrest is just a small step towards justice. Bringing President Putin to court in will not be easy (if not impossible), even if the United Nations seems to clearly believe there is enough evidence to accuse Putin of war crimes in Ukraine.

Pursuing a case such as the one against the Russian President is complicated, and so long as Putin stays in Russia, the chances of his arrest are highly unlikely. It is improbable that the Kremlin will hand over its esteemed leader to the ICC any time soon.

The ICC's warrant was issued after The Conflict Observatory, a program supported by the U.S. State Department, shared a shocking report on war crimes against Ukrainian children committed by Russia.

The Conflict Observatory released a 35-page report together with the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab detailing serious allegations against Russia, claims that, if true, mean the country has been committing war crimes against Ukrainian children.

The report stated that Russian forces have allegedly moved a minimum of 6,000 Ukrainian children to Russian camps and facilities for forced adoptions and military training. However, more recent information indicates that these numbers are much, much higher.

According to CNN, Nathaniel Raymond of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab told the press on February 14, "All levels of Russia's government are involved." Raymond added that the report should be considered "a gigantic Amber Alert that we are issuing on Ukraine's children."

NPR reported that the report titled "Russia's Systematic Program for the Re-Education and Adoption of Ukrainian Children," explains the Kremlin's terrifying, systematic approach to essentially kidnap Ukrainian children and "re-educate" them in a pro-Russia mindset and prevent them from returning to their homeland.

The authors of the report wrote that it seems that 75% of these camps for Ukrainian children seem to "expose children from Ukraine to Russia-centric academic, cultural, patriotic, and/or military education ..."

The authors continued, "...with the apparent goal of integrating children from Ukraine into the Russian government's vision of national culture, history and society."

The executive director of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, Nathaniel Raymond, told NPR, "This is not one rogue camp, this is not one rogue mayor or governor. It is a massive logistical undertaking that does not happen by accident."

The study found at least 32 centres dedicated to  re-education and two military training camps both dedicated to educating Ukrainian children.

Raymond further explained to the press that the primary purpose of the camps seems to be "political re-education."

However, there also appear to be some centres that are "dedicated to an expedited adoption process, and others are used as military training centres."

Per the report, the youngest child found at an adoption centre was four months old, and at the military training camps, the youngest children were fourteen years old. Further investigation is needed but they believe there are more than 43 centres according to Raymond.

CNN reported that Raymond also said that two camps, one in Chechnya and one in Crimea, "appear to be specifically involved in training children in the use of firearms and military vehicles."

Fortunately, the report's authors have stated that they have not yet seen any proof that these military-trained children are being sent off to war.

Sadly, the report stated it appears many parents seem to have been pressured into allowing their children to go with the Russians: "in many cases, the ability of parents to provide meaningful consent may be considered doubtful, as the conditions of war and implicit threat from occupying forces represent conditions of duress."

Unsurprisingly, when faced with these allegations, Russia has time and again denied any wrongdoing. According to The Telegraph, the Russian Embassy in Washington called the claims detailed in the report "absurd."

However, as NPR pointed out in their article on the matter, Russia does not deny that Ukrainian children have been moved to Russia.

Debra Ramos of the NPR wrote that Russian officials "insist the camps are part of a vast humanitarian project for abandoned, war-traumatized orphans."

At the beginning of February 2023, CNBC reported that Andriy Kostin, the prosecutor general in Ukraine, said that his team estimates that the Russians have committed over 65,000 war crimes since the invasion began in 2022.

Furthermore in March 2023, CNBC noted that Kostin said that documentation shows that more than 14,000 Ukrainian children have been forced into adoption in Russia.

According to CNBC, Kostin spoke to a group at Georgetown Law School in Washington in early February and stated: "This is a direct policy aimed at demographic change by cutting out Ukrainian identity. These actions are characteristics of the crime of genocide."

The authors of the report are hesitant at this time to use the word 'genocide' themselves; however, they do agree that Russia's actions with Ukrainian children seem to be a clear violation of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which explicitly states that the mass forced transfer of civilians is prohibited.

According to CNN, Raymond stated: "It is fundamentally the unconsented custody and control of thousands of Ukrainian children. Not only is it against the law, but against common decency."

At a State Department press briefing on February 14, 2023, spokesperson Ned Price made the United States' feelings on the matter clear: "Russia's system of forced relocation, reeducation and adoption of Ukraine's children is a key element of the Kremlin's systematic efforts to deny and suppress Ukraine's identity, its history and its culture."

Price continued, "The devastating impacts of Russia's failing war of aggression will be felt for generations to come."