Russian politician who 'adopted' girl abducted from Kherson, changes her name, surname, citizenship

The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, wrote about this on Telegram. 

He recalled that the media reported that Russian politician Sergei Mironov and his wife Inna Varlamova had "adopted" 10-month-old Margarita Prokopenko, who was abducted by Russians from an orphanage in Kherson region, allegedly for "examination and rehabilitation". Later, the politician and his wife changed the girl's name, surname, and citizenship.

The Ombudsman said that the guardian of the girl's sister had asked him to help establish her whereabouts and arrange custody of her.

"I would like to note that Margarita has a six-year-old sister and a three-year-old brother. The six-year-old sister lives with a guardian, but the fate of Margarita's brother is unknown. He, like the girl, was in Kherson. That is, the siblings were separated by the Russians," Lubinets wrote. 

The Ombudsman stressed that the adoption of Ukrainian children by Russians is illegal, as foreigners must notify Ukraine and obtain consent for the adoption in order to take custody of a child.

"However, Russia is trying to get around this and is forcibly granting Ukrainian children Russian citizenship. This is also a crime! Let me remind you: the forced transfer of children from one ethnic group to another is genocide! So at least this is already the basis for the next warrants! The international community must respond to the war crime of the Russians and help return the children abducted by Russia!" Lubinets said. 

He said that he had appealed to partners and international organizations to condemn the forced removal and adoption of Ukrainian children and recognize it as a crime of genocide. He also asked them to facilitate the return of children to Ukraine. 

• In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. It is known that Lvova-Belova "adopted" a boy abducted from Mariupol.