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Ukrainian Children facing Illegal Adoption in Russia

Over the course of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the occupiers of violating the norms of international law, including forcing the displacement of Ukrainian citizens, such as children.

Danyk Rak, 12, holds a cat standing on the debris of his house destroyed by Russian forces’ shelling in the outskirts of Chernihiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. After the shelling, Danyk’s mother, Liudmila Koval, had to have her leg amputated and was injured in her abdominal cavity. She is still waiting for proper medical treatment. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Danyk Rak, 12, holds a cat standing on the debris of his house destroyed by Russian forces’ shelling in the outskirts of Chernihiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. After the shelling, Danyk’s mother, Liudmila Koval, had to have her leg amputated and was injured in her abdominal cavity. She is still waiting for proper medical treatment. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Many of these children are deprived of parental care or are orphans, children whose parents died as a result of Russia’s military actions, and they are being moved across state borders to the territory of Russia.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a warning that there is “a blatant threat of illegal adoption of Ukrainian children by Russian citizens without observing all the necessary procedures determined by the legislation of Ukraine”.

The Ministry called on a number of authorities, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to “accept urgent measures for the return of Ukrainian children to the territory of our State”.

The statement pointed to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which, according to the Ministry, requires that parties to the international treaty — including Russia and Ukraine — make efforts to fight against this illegal movement and failure to return children from abroad.