UN Says Russia’s Deportation of Ukrainian Children May Constitute Crimes Against Humanity

A United Nations investigation has concluded that Russia’s deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied territories could amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.

According to the findings by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, at least 1,205 cases have been documented involving children taken from Ukrainian territories by Russia since 2022.

The report states that about 80% of the identified children have not yet been returned, with many parents and guardians still unaware of their children’s whereabouts.

Investigators say the actions amount to enforced disappearance and unjustifiable delays in repatriation — violations that qualify as crimes against humanity and war crimes under international law.

Most of the children referenced in the report were living in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, regions of Ukraine that Moscow claims to control but which are internationally recognised as Ukrainian territory.

The report says that shortly before launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow moved many of the children into the Russian Federation, claiming they were being evacuated to protect them from a potential Ukrainian attack.

Once inside Russia, the children were reportedly placed with foster families or institutions and in many cases granted Russian citizenship.

Russian authorities have consistently denied accusations of forcibly removing children from Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin previously dismissed allegations of abduction, saying the issue had been exaggerated and insisting the children had been “rescued” from a war zone.

At the time, Putin also said there would be “no problem” returning children to their homeland if requested.

However, the Ukrainian government has disputed those claims, saying families have faced major obstacles trying to bring their children back. The UN report similarly states that many children have encountered significant difficulties returning to Ukraine.

Investigators say the forced separation from their homeland, combined with what the report describes as a “coercive environment” in Russia, has caused deep psychological distress among many of the affected children.

Those who have managed to return to Ukraine have reportedly suffered from trauma, anxiety and fear of abandonment, sometimes linked to harsh treatment while in Russian care.

One child cited in the report said staff at a Russian orphanage told him that Ukraine “does not exist anymore” and that his parents had likely died.

Another testimony quoted a mother still searching for her missing daughter, saying she feared how the girl might be coping in Russia.

“I am still looking for my daughter, and I am terribly afraid of what she might think of me and how she survives,” the woman said.

In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin, accusing him and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova of unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children.

Lvova-Belova previously described taking in a 15-year-old boy from the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol and attempting to “re-educate” him, despite acknowledging he did not want to move to Russia.

Ukrainian officials say they have managed to recover around 2,000 children so far.

Reports have also suggested involvement from Melania Trump, the former US First Lady, who has reportedly helped facilitate efforts to reunite some children with their families. She previously said she maintained an “open channel of communication” with Putin after writing to him about the children affected by the war.