“Russia deliberately hinders the process of returning our children”: Ombudsman calls for decisive action

Dmytro Lubinets, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, made a call to the world community during the Third Plenary Event of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. At the event, which was attended by representatives of the member countries of the Coalition, international organizations and the Ukrainian authorities, he highlighted the glaring problem of the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, one of the most tragic and large-scale humanitarian disasters has unfolded in the territories under temporary occupation — the mass abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children. According to the Ukrainian authorities and international organizations, thousands of children have been forcibly relocated to the Russian Federation, where they are subjected to political influence and propaganda. This situation has become a new weapon in the hybrid war waged by Russia aimed at destroying Ukrainian national identity. Ukraine, for its part, is making every effort to return the children home, but the Russian Federation complicates this process in every possible way.

Dmytro Lubinets in his Telegram channel on October 2 emphasized, that the Russian Federation is deliberately slowing down the process of returning kidnapped Ukrainian children. During his speech, he emphasized that more than 20,000 children were abducted from Ukraine, but there is an even greater risk of deportation for about 1.5 million children who are in temporarily occupied territories.

An important aspect is that Russia changes the personal data of children so that their relatives and the state cannot find them. Moreover, Ukrainian children are sent to so-called “re-education camps”, where they are bombarded with Russian propaganda and forced to renounce their national identity.

“Our children are even sent to so-called “re-education camps” where they are bombarded with Russian propaganda. Just imagine: our children are forced to deny their Ukrainian origin.

He told international partners about the fate of residential institutions, such as the Oleshkiv Children’s Boarding Home, a communal facility of the Kherson Regional Council, where children were first moved to the occupied territories, and then deported to Russia. And the children from the Kherson regional children’s home were generally deported to Russia and adopted without permission.

We know the facts that Ukrainian orphans taken to the Russian Federation receive inadequate medical care and have substandard living conditions,” – Lubinets said.

Lubinets emphasized that Ukraine independently searches for and checks the whereabouts of children, tracks their relatives and implements legal mechanisms for the return of deported children to the Motherland.

“Also, our country is working on improving legal mechanisms and cooperation between state bodies to protect the rights of children and their return. In particular, 2 key resolutions were adopted, which are important steps in establishing internal processes aimed at the return of deported Ukrainian children, as well as ensuring their rights after return.

The main problem now is that the Russian Federation is deliberately slowing down the process of returning our children.

During the meeting, the results of the Coalition’s work for 6 months were summarized, plans were outlined, and a Joint Statement was issued, which defined the main principles of returning children:

• transparency regarding data about children,
• access of international missions to them,
• support for Ukraine’s humanitarian efforts,
• long-term support for reintegration,
• ensuring children’s access to justice and fairness.

International support is vital for Ukraine, so I called on all our partners to continue to work together and increase pressure on Russia. Her actions should be recognized as an international crime, and all those involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children should be brought to justice.” – summed up Dmytro Lubinets.