Along with children, there are about 1,007 cases of forced deportation of civilians. Within the criminal proceedings, all of them are registered as missing persons. These cases are being studied by investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor’s Office, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Oleksandr Filchakov, said in an interview with ArmyInform.

218 minor Ukrainian citizens have returned to their homeland, while 118 children stay with relatives in Russia. At the same time, the fate of 225 others remains unknown. However, thanks to the support of international partners, work continues to establish the whereabouts of these children.

As part of the pre-trial investigation, the Prosecutor’s Office of Kharkiv Region established the fact of the forced transfer of 13 students of the Kupiansk Special School to a boarding school located in Perevalsk, a village in Luhansk Oblast that has been temporarily occupied since 2014.

Meanwhile, it is impossible to say that these children are exactly there. Russians are seizing and shredding documents confirming the transfer of underage Ukrainian citizens in the occupied territories.

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine confirmed evidence of the illegal transfer of hundreds of Ukrainian children to Russia. The Commission’s report states that Russia also committed war crimes in Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian government statistics, the number of children taken to Russia against their will is 16,221.

See also

  • 23 torture chambers discovered in Kharkiv Oblast. Law enforcement bodies in Kharkiv region mostly detect crimes related to violations of the law and customs of war.
  • Threatened to shoot if victims don’t give money: three Russian soldiers to be judged. According to the investigation, in May 2022, during the occupation of Izium in Kharkiv Oblast, three soldiers of the 39th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade belonging to the 68th Army Corps of the Eastern Military District, stopped a car with two civilians.

Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for more news, stories, and field reports by Kharkiv journalists.