Abducted Ukrainian children are being prepared for adoption in Russia - Lubinets
Kyiv • UNN
Data of Kherson orphanage residents were posted on a Russian portal without mentioning Ukraine. Lubinets calls on the world to help return the children.
A journalistic investigation revealed that the profiles of Ukrainian children from the Kherson Children's Home, forcibly removed in 2022, have been placed on the Russian state adoption portal without any mention of their true origin, which is part of a systemic policy of destroying Ukrainian identity and legalizing child abduction. This was reported by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada, Dmytro Lubinets, writes UNN.
Thanks to a journalistic investigation, it became known that the profiles of Ukrainian children, forcibly removed from the Kherson Children's Home in 2022, have been placed on the Russian state adoption portal. Most notably, these data completely lack any mention of Ukraine or their true origin.
Lubinets emphasized that this fact is further confirmation of the deliberate policy of erasing the Ukrainian identity of children and an attempt to "legalize" their abduction.
First, forced displacement or deportation. Then, changing documents, transferring for adoption, total re-education, and militarization. These are not isolated cases, but a systemic practice that has been ongoing since 2014.
The Commissioner noted that time is critical in this process. According to him, while the world hesitates, Ukrainian children are growing up in foreign families, under the flag of the aggressor country, in an atmosphere of coercion, pressure, and fear. He added that children are deprived of their native language, memory, and identity, while being subjected to hostile propaganda and prepared for military service against their own homeland. Lubinets noted that the situation requires urgent action.
I appeal to international partners: help us in our efforts to return Ukrainian children. Join the work of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. Help us find out their whereabouts. Become mediating countries.
The Ombudsman noted that action must be taken now, before the identities of Ukrainian children are completely erased. He stressed that the forcible transfer of children to another national group is a gross violation of the IV Geneva Convention and has signs of genocide in accordance with the Rome Statute.
The Ombudsman's Office is systematically working to return Ukrainian children. With our assistance, within the framework of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, 10 children from the Kherson Children's Home have already been returned home. In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has returned 2083 children. We must unite for the main goal - to return every Ukrainian child home.