They walked in dirty clothes and ate poorly: the UN commission recognized cases of deportation of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation

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The UN Independent International Commission to Investigate Violations in Ukraine recognized cases of illegal transfer of 164 Ukrainian children by Russians. Children aged 4-18 were taken from the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions, the report of the commission says. The commission identified three main cases when the Russian authorities moved Ukrainian children from some areas controlled by them or to the Russian Federation. In particular, these are children who: lost their parents or temporarily lost contact with them during military operations; were separated from their parents when one of their parents was detained at the screening points; were in care institutions. Photo: Ruslan-Lytvyn/Depositphotos “In all the situations considered by the commission, the transfer of children did not meet the requirements established by international humanitarian law. The transfer was not justified by reasons of security or health. There is no reason to indicate that the transfer children to the territory under the control of the government of Ukraine was impossible,” the report says. The commission also notes that, probably, the Russians did not try to establish contact with the children’s relatives or with the Ukrainian authorities. Although the relocations were supposed to be temporary, most of them became long-term, and parents or legal guardians and children faced a number of obstacles in establishing contact, reuniting the family and returning the children to Ukraine. The report cites an example when children from the temporarily occupied territories went to rest camps in Crimea or the Russian Federation with the consent of their parents. Parents and children noted that when these territories returned to Ukrainian control, Russian authorities required parents or legal guardians to come in person to pick up their children. Due to the fact that such a trip was long, difficult and dangerous, parents could not pick up their children in time. In some cases, it took weeks or months for families to be reunited. Witnesses told the commission that many of the younger children who were relocated were unable to make contact with their families and, as a result, may have lost contact with them indefinitely. Parents and children also complained that in some cases Russian social services promised children that they would be redirected to care institutions, foster families or adopted. In some institutions, children were dressed in dirty clothes, shouted at and called names. Nutrition was poor and some children with disabilities did not receive adequate care and medicine. “Children expressed deep fear that they could be permanently separated from their parents, guardians or relatives,” the report said. The commission came to the conclusion that the cases considered by it regarding the transfer and deportation of children within the borders of Ukraine and to the Russian Federation violate international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes. “International humanitarian law prohibits the evacuation of children by a party to an armed conflict, with the exception of a temporary one, when compelling reasons related to the state of health or treatment of children require it. For this, the written consent of parents or legal representatives must be given,” the commission says. . The UN does not know exactly how many children were deported, although the Ukrainian and Russian sides claimed hundreds of thousands, and the Ukrainian data collection system officially recorded the deportation of 16,221 children. We will remind you that on Thursday, March 16, 2023, the UN International Commission published a report on the investigation of Russia’s war crimes in the war against Ukraine. The UN has estimated that Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have damaged or destroyed thousands of residential buildings, more than 3,000 educational institutions and more than 600 medical facilities. The commission confirmed the execution of 65 men, two women and a 14-year-old boy. However, the head of the commission, Eric Möse, said that the commission did not find evidence of genocide during the investigation of human rights violations during the conflict with Russia. “We have not found that there was genocide in Ukraine. He said that the team is following the evidence and that there are ‘some aspects that may raise questions’ about possible genocide,” he said. Read also: “Finally we can speak Ukrainian”: 16 more children deported to the Russian Federation and Crimea returned home

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