Russia would have subjected at least 314 children from Ukraine to a forced adoption or foster care program since the start of the war with the neighboring country, in February 2022, so that they could undergo “Russification”, according to research released this Tuesday- fair (3) by Yale University, in the United States.
The research, conducted by the Humanitarian Research Laboratory at the Yale School of Public Health, is “the largest and most detailed high-confidence analysis to date of the placement of Ukrainian children with Russian citizens or listed in Russian (adoption) databases.” ”.
The institution identified 166 children already in the custody of Russian citizens and 148 included in databases that are operated, affiliated or directed directly by or coordinated with the Russian government as part of a “systematic, intentional and widespread” operation.
This operation, documented in an 86-page report covering Russian custody of Ukrainian children, their transportation from one country to another and their naturalization, “was initiated by (Russian dictator Vladimir) Putin and his subordinates with the intention of Russifying ” the children, the report says.
The 314 Ukrainian children identified in the research were removed from the unilaterally declared Russian provinces Donetsk and Luhansk, transported to temporary points and distributed across 21 regions of the country. Among them, 67 were naturalized and 42 are in the reception process.
The study also concludes that Russia is using psychologists to legitimize this adoption program as a “medical necessity” and that the children were subjected to “pro-Russian re-education” after being in Russian custody.
Researchers say the documented forced adoptions and foster homes could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity and that, together with other evidence, could even strengthen the case that Russia is committing genocide against Ukraine.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Putin and his child protection commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the mass deportation to Russian territory of Ukrainian minors from occupied regions in Ukraine, which amounts to a war crime.
In addition to Putin and Lvova-Belova, the Yale report accuses other Russian officials of responsibility for the forced adoption program: Anna Kuznetsova, vice-president of the Russian Duma (lower house of Parliament); Sergei Kravtsov, Minister of Education; and the heads of the pro-Russian administrations of Donetsk and Luhansk.