Russia presses on with forced deportation of Ukrainian children

Moscow continues to erase the identity of Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories and deport minors, stated Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights, as reported by Suspilne.

This time, the occupiers transported around 4,000 Ukrainian children to Crimea for “education” and “reprogramming.” 

The goal is to sever these children’s connection to Ukraine, its culture, language, and national identity.

Russian textbooks and programs used for this deportation policy apply ideological pressure on the children.

“Taking advantage of the vulnerable situation of parents and legal guardians, the occupiers often deceive and intimidate them, stripping them of their parental rights or relocating Ukrainian children far from anything connected to Ukraine,” Lubinets said.

The children are first taken to the occupied Crimean Peninsula, then to Russia.

“As Ukraine’s ombudsman, I consistently emphasize on international platforms that international humanitarian law prohibits Russia, as an aggressor, from deporting and forcibly relocating Ukrainian children,” Lubinets said.

Despite this, Russia’s actions are consistent with polices ever since Crimea was illegally annexed in 2014, he added.

The forced relocation and deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia constitutes not only a war crime but also part of Russia’s genocidal policies, Lubinets said.

“I call on international partners to increase pressure on Russia to halt this crime and ensure the return of Ukrainian children to their homeland,” he said.