Russia kidnapped children from Kherson and is looking for families for them in Russian Federation, questionnaires have been made public
Russia abducted children from a children's home in Kherson and entered their profiles into the state database of orphans for future adoption.
According to Censor.NET, this is discussed in an investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and The Reckoning Project.
What the journalists found out
There are at least four children for whom foster families are already being sought in Russia through the "usynovite.rf" portal.
These forms do not indicate that the children are citizens of Ukraine or are from Kherson.
The scale of the abduction
According to journalists, in September 2022, Russian troops took two children from the facility, and on October 21, they took another 46.
Eventually, 10 children were returned to Ukraine, but most are still living with foster families in Russia.
Previously reported cases
In 2023, journalists discovered that one of the abducted girls—Margarita Prokopenko—had been adopted by Russian politician Sergei Mironov.
According to the Bring Kids Back initiative, Russia has deported more than 20,000 Ukrainian children since the start of the full-scale invasion.
A total of 2,083 children were successfully returned.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova on suspicion of the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children.
Investigations into these crimes are ongoing both internationally and within Ukraine.
