In the russian federation, the adoption of Ukrainian children is presented as a patriotic act
The correspondent of the newspaper spoke with several displaced children from Mariupol and other cities in Donbas, who were forcibly taken by the occupiers to russia, where they were forced to accept russian citizenship and were handed over to russian families for guardianship or adoption.
London correspondent Emma Bubola, who has been monitoring the fate of Ukrainian children in russia for several months, writes that "with the help of adoption, russia is turning Ukrainian children into war booty."
Some of the Ukrainian children, who were deported to russia by the occupiers, told the journalist that they were taken out by force or deception, promising a comfortable life in russia with new families. "No one asked me," said 14-year-old Anya, who lived in an orphanage in Mariupol. Anya lost contact with her mother in Ukraine and was able to restore it only with the help of the journalist's search.
According to the article, in russia adoption of Ukrainian children is presented as a patriotic act. The transfer of children to russian families and the handing over of russian passports to them is widely covered on Russian television. Referring to conversations with Ukrainian families and their deported children, the journalist noted that although many children come from orphanages, relatives or guardians want them back.
"This systematic resettlement is part of russian President vladimir putin's broader strategy to treat Ukraine as part of russia and view its illegal invasion as a noble cause. His government has used children - including the sick, the poor and orphans - as part of a propaganda campaign that represents russia as a charitable savior," the article says.
The Ukrainian authorities stated that not all children, whom the russian authorities took to russia, did not have parents. Some of them were lost precisely as a result of russian shelling, some were deprived of parental care due to the fact that their parents were arrested by the russian authorities.
Ukrainian authorities have emphasized that the mass transfer of children is a potential war crime, regardless of whether the children were orphans.
How russia takes away Ukrainian children
On September 1, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Pavlo Sushko stated that since the beginning of the full-scale war, at least 557,000 Ukrainian children have been illegally taken to russia.
On September 11, the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories announced the return of 31 children taken by the occupiers to Ukraine.
According to some data, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, russia has deported more than 1.18 million Ukrainians to its territory.
On October 9, the First Deputy Chairman of the Kherson Regional Council Yuriy Sobolevsky noted that the occupiers may not return children who are taken from the Kherson Region to russia allegedly for rehabilitation.
And on October 15, the deputy official representative of the State Department, Vedant Patel, said that according to the data of the US State Department, since the beginning of the invasion of russian troops from Ukraine, 260,000 Ukrainian children have been taken to remote areas of russia.
