Russians Charged with War Crimes for Stealing Ukrainian Children

It has been evident since Russian terrorists invaded Ukraine in February 2022 that not only are they aiming at military and non-military targets and infrastructures and civilians but most of all children. A March 2026 UN investigation has found that 80% of Ukrainian children documented as taken – yes, stolen right from their parents’ arms – by Russians have not been returned, with the systematic transfer and failure to repatriate them constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The forced deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children by Russia throughout its full-scale war in Ukraine amounts to crimes against humanity, a United Nations (UN) investigation published on March 10 found.

Since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s national “Children of War” database has documented 20,000 Ukrainian children that have been abducted from Russian-occupied territories and taken to Russia or Russian-controlled areas.

"The Commission concluded that crimes against humanity and war crimes by Russian authorities have targeted children, who are among the most vulnerable victims," a report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine found.

The United Nations found on Tuesday, March 11, that Russia’s deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022 amounted to crimes against humanity.

Ukraine says some 20,000 children have been illegally sent to Russia and Belarus where they are sometimes subject to military training and forced to learn Russian and salute the Russian flat as well as fight against their own troops. This inhuman tactic is meant to deprive the Ukrainian nation of new generations of Ukrainian children.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian führer Vladimir Putin and five other Russians over illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. Moscow denies it is taking children against ⁠their will, saying it has been evacuating people voluntarily to remove them from a war zone.

In this report, the commission concluded that crimes against humanity and war crimes by Russian authorities have targeted children, who are among the most vulnerable victims, said the report. “These crimes have irreversible consequences on their lives and their future.”

The report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine studied the cases of 1,205 children from five regions in Ukraine and said that 80% of them have yet to return.

The commission’s work is based on analysis of thousands of documents and submissions from rights groups as well as over 200 ⁠interviews, including with families of the missing and some children who made it home.

“The deportations and transfers have originated from various locations across a wide geographic area in Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine, following a well-established pattern of conduct, indicating that these acts have been widespread and systematic,” added the report, to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday.

It also said that Russian authorities at the highest level of government have helped coordinate the actions.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the report and called on states to increase pressure on ⁠Russia to secure the return of deported children.

US-funded research last year showed Russia expanded its forced re-education programs ⁠of deported children. US First Lady Melania Trump has advocated for their release and has been in touch with Putin’s representatives as part of her work.

Its work is based on analysis of thousands of documents and submissions from rights groups as well as over 200 interviews, including with families of the missing and some children who made it home.

“The deportations and transfers have originated from various locations across a wide geographic area in Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine, following a well-established pattern of conduct, indicating that these acts have been widespread and systematic,” added the report, to be presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday.