Putin-controlled aircraft deport Ukrainian children, research alleges

Reuters reports the information.

Research backed by the U.S. State Department, released on Tuesday, found that 314 Ukrainian children were taken to Russia during the early stages of the war as part of a systematic, Kremlin-funded effort to "Russify" them.

In March 2023, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian President Putin and child rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for the alleged war crime of deporting Ukrainian children. Lvova-Belova claimed her actions were humanitarian, while the Kremlin declined to comment.

The new report, shared with Reuters, offers details of the alleged deportation program and individuals involved, including what its lead researcher said were new links to Putin.

Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab, is set to present the findings to the U.N. Security Council, supporting potential additional ICC charges against Putin for "forcible transfer" of people.

He further said the report proved "the deportation of Ukraine's children is part of a systematic, Kremlin-led program" to make them citizens of Russia.

Forcible transfer is a crime against humanity under international law, considered more serious than the war crimes Putin is currently charged with for allegedly deporting Ukrainian children.

In response to Reuters, the ICC office of the prosecutor stated that the Yale report is helpful for its ongoing work in the case but declined to comment on potential charges or actions arising from its investigation in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president's office did not respond to requests for comment. Ukraine's prosecutor general's office said it had no immediate comment.

In response to the ICC charges, Lvova-Belova claimed that Russia did not forcibly move children and always sought consent from parents or legal guardians, unless they were missing. She emphasized that the children were placed with temporary guardians, not given up for adoption. Russia, which does not recognize the ICC, has dismissed the court's warrants as meaningless, although its 124 member states are obligated to execute them, potentially limiting travel for those charged.

Children identified

According to Reuters, the research is based on data extracted from three Russian government adoption databases over 20 months. Yale's investigation mapped the alleged program's logistics and funding, confirming the identities of the 314 children involved, according to Raymond.

The research, part of a U.S. State Department initiative, documents potential violations of international law by Russia in Ukraine. It found Ukrainian children brought to Russia were subjected to "pro-state and militarized propaganda" at processing facilities.

Reuters has documented the transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russian camps, their forced naturalization, and Belarus's involvement in the program.

Stephen Rapp, former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes, reviewed the report and told Reuters that it proves Russia's direct involvement in altering laws to facilitate coercive adoptions, which would have been illegal under Russian law before February 2022.

Kyiv estimates that around 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since the invasion. Lvova-Belova has disputed these numbers, requesting Kyiv to provide evidence. She previously stated that 380 orphans and children not in parental custody were placed with Russian foster families between April and October 2022.

Flights

According to the report, Russia began taking Ukrainian children from occupied territories in the days leading up to the invasion in February 2022.

The report stated that Russia's Aerospace Forces and aircraft directly controlled by Putin's office transported multiple groups of children from Ukraine on Russian military transport planes between May and October 2022. At least two groups flew on aircraft managed by the Presidential Property Management Department in May and October 2022.

The report revealed that on September 16, 2022, children were taken to the Chkalovsky military airfield near Moscow after being transported from the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk and Luhansk to Rostov, Russia. They were then flown on a TU-154M aircraft with the tail number RA-85123, operated by the Russian Defense Ministry's 223rd Flight Squad. Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 confirmed the details.

The report identified 314 Ukrainian children taken to Russia, with 166 placed directly with Russian citizens. Another 148 were listed in Russia's child placement databases, with about a third of them now placed with Russian families. The remaining children were last known to be in Russian institutions.