Research “(NON)return of children: Ukraine in the faces of the greatest challenge since independence”

Throughout the ten years of aggression against Ukraine, the Russian Federation has consistently implemented a policy of eradicating the Ukrainian identity of children from the occupied territories. Deportations, forcible transfer, separation from parents, transfer to Russian families, imposition of citizenship, political indoctrination, Russification, and militarization are the tools used to compel
Ukrainian children to become enemies of their own nation.

Since February 24, 2022, the deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children by Russian agents has become systematic and widespread. The aggressor state managed to remove thousands of young Ukrainians, in particular, due to the fact that a significant number of them resided in institutional care facilities and subject to mostly objective circumstances had not been evacuated by Ukraine.
Another 1,000 orphans from the occupied Crimean peninsula were deported and put up for adoption by Russians between 2014 and 2022. Given the scale of the forcible displacement of Ukrainian children and the intention of Russian agents to maintain permanent control over them, on March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation Maria Lvova-Belova.

As of August 2024, 388 children who had experienced deportation and/or forcible transfer had been returned to Ukraine.1 The process of return was carried out by civil society organizations, charitable foundations, and volunteers in cooperation with government agencies in the face of unjustifiable delays in the repatriation of young Ukrainians by the Russian Federation. The significant duration of the
process, the abuse by Russian agents of the vulnerable situation of children and their legal representatives, the refusal of the Russian Federation to return orphans and children deprived of parental care in an orderly manner, the risk that children will suffer from other international crimes make it urgent to develop and implement a transparent and understandable algorithm for the return, social and psychological rehabilitation and reintegration of Ukrainian children from the control of the Russian Federation within the framework of the state policy of Ukraine with a clear division of responsibilities, strategic planning and implementation of the financial and human resources.

The physical return of a child back under the control of Ukraine requires special efforts to adapt him or her to Ukrainian society. The long-term nature and gravity of the consequences of crimes committed by Russian agents against Ukrainian children requires the establishment of a separate framework of services focused on the best interests of children and meeting their unique needs to address the effects of Russification, political indoctrination, and militarization.

This present report is a compilation of the results of the research of the public association “Ukrainian
Child Rights Network” (hereinafter — UCRN), the public organization “Regional Center for Human Rights” (hereinafter — RCHR), and the charitable foundation “Voices of Children” (hereinafter — Voices of Children) in the legal, service, and psycho-rehabilitation areas. The document contains an analysis of the legal situation of Ukrainian children under the control of the Russian Federation, the causes that led to the capture of children by Russian agents, in particular, the failure to achieve the goals of deinstitutionalization prior to the full-scale invasion, challenges of the return of children to Ukraine, and their further reintegration into Ukrainian society.

This publication was prepared jointly by the Regional Human Rights Center, the Ukrainian Child Rights Network and the Children’s Voices Foundation and was made possible with the support of the
Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine, which is funded by the governments of Canada, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Regional Human Rights Center, the Ukrainian Child Rights Network and the Voices of Children and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Foundation and/or its financial partners.

The Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine a donor program funded by the governments of Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the United States. With the joint support of the Government of Ukraine and partner governments, the Fund implements projects, primarily in the de-occupied and frontline territories, aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s resilience in the face of Russian aggression. The goal of the USIF is to strengthen the capacity of the Ukrainian government to provide critical support to local communities in cooperation with civil society, media and the private sector.