Questionnaires, social networks and Russian databases: how analysts are searching for Ukrainian children abducted by Russia
The return of Ukrainian children who were taken to the occupied territories by Russia to Russia or Belarus begins with establishing their whereabouts and confirming their identity. In this work, any public traces become important: a photo from the orphanage, a questionnaire in the Russian database, a message from guardians, a story in local media or a mention on the camp’s page, because it is from such fragments that the child’s route after the abduction is made up. Analysts check public mentions, compare faces, find new guardians, study orphanage websites and record people who participated in the children’s movement, so that every confirmed fact can help in the child’s return and future investigation.
How open source search works
Representative of the Molfar Intelligence Institute Bohdan Muzyka explained how intelligence specialists using open sources help to establish the whereabouts of abducted Ukrainian children. According to him, the main task of analysts is to find the child, verify his identity and find out who he is with.
As of April, the institute’s specialists had identified about 200 Ukrainian children who are in temporarily occupied territories, in Russia or Belarus. From this list, according to confirmed data, 11 children have already been returned to Ukraine.
Open-source intelligence involves searching for information in the public domain: news, registers, social networks, forums, government databases, institutional websites, videos, photo archives, and media materials. In everyday life, a similar approach is used by anyone who checks information through search engines, but professional work is distinguished by the depth of the check, the number of sources, and the complexity of verification.
In cases involving children, analysts cannot rely on a single match or a single photo. The data is checked through several independent sources, since Russia can change the children’s names, surnames, dates of birth, and place of origin. Because of this, experts have to compare photos, biographical details, mentions on social networks, questionnaires in Russian databases, and materials from children’s institutions.
For the search, the pages of the child, his relatives, new guardians, or people who could have participated in the adoption are used. Russian databases are of particular importance, in particular the so-called orphan data bank, where questionnaires for adoption are published.
Analysts also work with the database of missing persons of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Telegram channels with lists of deported children, Russian media, pages of boarding schools, orphanages and camps. For the search, image recognition services, complex queries in Google and Yandex are used, since the Russian search engine is often better at finding materials within the Russian information space.
Why Russian orphanages help record evidence
Websites and pages of Russian children’s institutions are of great importance for investigations, because they often contain photos and videos from holidays, camps, school events and propaganda events. For young children who do not have their own social networks and have not left a noticeable digital trace, such footage may be the only open evidence of their whereabouts after deportation.
In photographs from orphanages or camps, analysts look for faces, clothes, premises, signs, interiors, geographical features and people next to the child. Such details help to establish the institution, city, date of shooting and the circle of people involved.
Why altered documents complicate the search
The most difficult cases are with young children who do not remember their origin or have not had time to leave a digital trace. If a child’s name, surname, date of birth or place of birth is changed, a regular search for documents becomes almost fruitless.
In such situations, analysts work with indirect signs: photographs, memories of relatives, old publications, evacuation records, reports from occupied territories and data about people who accompanied the deportation. The search by face also has limitations, because infants change quickly, and there are often almost no open photos.
How to identify those involved in deportation
The work of analysts includes not only searching for children, but also identifying individuals who participated in deportation, transportation, placement, adoption, or ideological influence. Officials, education workers, directors of boarding schools, camp directors, volunteer organizations, local collaborators, and logistics organizers come into view.
The collected data is important for future trials, since every name, position, photo, publication, or video can become part of the evidence base. Analysts archive materials because pages and posts can be deleted after publicity or a change in the political situation.
In some cases, open sources are not enough, so people in temporarily occupied territories, in Russia or Belarus, can be involved in verifying information. Such sources help confirm the child’s whereabouts, clarify data about guardians, or refute erroneous versions.
This area requires special caution, as any premature publication or careless action may endanger the child, his or her relatives, or people helping with data verification.
Documenting Ideological Influence
A separate area of work concerns children in temporarily occupied territories who are involved in Russian schools, holidays, militarized events, and so-called re-education programs. In such cases, analysts record not only the presence of children at events, but also the organizers, performers, educational institutions, and local officials.
Such materials can be used to establish a chain of responsibility: who organized the event, who gathered the children, who published the reports, who was responsible for the program, and who ensured the participation of Ukrainian minors in Russian propaganda practices.
Why open sources have become important for the return of children
Ukraine has already documented more than 20 thousand facts of child deportation, and each specific case requires a separate verification. State bodies, public organizations, volunteers, analytical teams and special services work with different parts of this process: some collect testimonies, others look for digital traces, and still others help with return.
According to Bohdan Muzyka, cooperation between the state and public sectors is already having practical results. The teams present joint developments at conferences, exchange data and gradually build stable horizontal ties.
Searching for a child through open sources rarely looks like a quick investigation with one decisive piece of evidence. More often, it is a long-term compilation of disparate fragments: a photo from an orphanage, an old questionnaire, a post by a guardian, an entry in a Russian database, a mention in local media, a comment from a relative or data from the Ukrainian registry.
Every confirmed match brings the child closer to being located, and every piece of evidence preserved helps preserve their true story. That’s why analysts work not only to find them today, but also to ensure that the child can learn who they are, where they were taken from, and who was involved in the crime in the future.
