«(Non-)returnable children»: coverage of abductions and return of Ukrainian children

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russian Federation has abducted approximately 19,546 children from Ukraine. The aggressor country is deliberately eradicating the children’s Ukrainian identity.

This information comes from Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights.

“Children who are most vulnerable—such as those from single-parent families, orphans, children with disabilities, those raised by parents with disabilities, children from large families, and those from boarding schools—have been particularly affected and held hostage by these processes.» — comments Daria Kasyanova, Head of the Board of the Ukrainian Child Rights Network.

The activists tried to prove that the unimplemented deinstitutionalization reform was a factor contributing to these children’s deportation. Three organizations focused on this issue have compiled a joint report. It addresses the legal and social aspects of returning children to Ukraine. Olena Rozvadovska, co-founder of the Children’s Voices Foundation, believes that ongoing cooperation among all institutions dealing with children is crucial for the effective return and reintegration of abducted kids.

“As an organization providing psychosocial support, we want to highlight that the primary needs of returned children are placement, support from a social worker—including emotional and legal assistance, accommodation, and community contact», — says Rozvadovska.

It is important to expose Russia’s theft of our children. At the same time it is vital not to make the returned child a prisoner of their traumatic story, which they may carry for the rest of their lives. Kateryna Rashevska, an expert at the Regional Centre for Human Rights, notes that in some cases, she and her colleagues have documented collaborative crimes against children. These involve relatives or staff from various institutions cooperating with the Russians to hand over kids. However, Kateryna points out that not all such cases should result in prosecution for individuals in the occupied territories.

“We had an example in Mykolaiv Region where a children’s institution director was threatened with violence to force her to surrender the children. She refused and stated she would leave with the children if necessary. This does not mean she agreed to cooperate. However, we have also recorded instances of voluntary cooperation in the context of deporting Ukrainian children», — Kateryna Rashevska comments.

As a reminder, according to Oksen Lisovyi, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, 57,000 children from temporarily occupied territories studied remotely in Ukrainian schools this year.