Experts in Davos address Russia’s deportation of Ukrainian children

This is reported on the website of the Ukrainian President’s Office.

The discussion included Dariia Zarivna, Advisor to the Head of the Presidential Office and Chief Operating Officer of Bring Kids Back UA, as well as leading international experts, human rights defenders, and political figures.

Zarivna emphasized that the abduction of Ukrainian children is part of Russia’s strategy to destroy Ukrainians as a nation. She noted that these children are subjected to brainwashing in Russia and temporarily occupied territories, aimed at making them forget their roots.

“The children deported by Russia, as well as those on temporarily occupied territories, are subjected to brainwashing, forced to forget their roots, forbidden from speaking their native language, placed in Russian families and institutions, and later used for propaganda and military purposes. Russia sees them as an additional mobilization resource and turns them into weapons against their homeland,” she said.

During the discussion, participants also addressed the fact that Russia is creating “hate factories” in the temporarily occupied territories, where children are forced to wear military uniforms, join paramilitary organizations, and glorify the Russian army.

Lady Helena Kennedy, Director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute and co-chair of the international working group Bring Kids Back UA, noted that according to international humanitarian law, the deportation of children is a war crime.

Additionally, former Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren emphasized that the militarization of children poses a threat not only to Ukraine but also to global security. Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University, stressed the importance of documenting Russia’s crimes.

“The analysts tracked the flight routes used by Russia to transport children out of Ukraine and identified key locations involved in this process. The deportation of Ukrainian children is a systemic policy planned by Russian officials at the highest levels of government,” Raymond said.

The President’s Office added that under the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, which launched in May 2023, 1,037 children have already been returned.

• The head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, reported that since the beginning of 2024, 449 children have been returned to Ukrainian-controlled territories from Russian occupation.