The Office of the Prosecutor General, together with the Security Service of Ukraine, is investigating the facts of the deportation and forced relocation of Ukrainian children from occupied territories to Russia, Belarus, occupied Crimea, and the so-called "L/DPR." This is one of the gravest war crimes, demonstrating Russia's deliberate policy of destroying Ukrainian identity.

After the onset of the full-scale invasion, Russians began to mass-export children from occupied territories. As of February 24, 2022, there were about 3,700 orphans and children deprived of parental care in those areas. During the investigation, over a thousand more children were discovered who had been taken to Russia even before the invasion, in February 2022.

From the first weeks of the war, the Russian authorities changed their legislation to simplify the process of obtaining Russian citizenship for Ukrainian children. This process was managed from the office of the Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. Consent was not even required for children under 14 years old. Children were mass-given to Russian families. Currently, over 350 such cases are known.

Russian propaganda turns this into showcase events. In the Moscow region, passports are publicly handed out to children from Donbas. Lvova-Belova claims to have "adopted" a boy from Mariupol. The leader of the "Just Russia" party, along with his wife, illegally took and adopted a girl from Kherson region. There are known cases where Ukrainian children were adopted by Russian soldiers who participated in crimes against civilians.

Children are held in special camps and schools where they are "re-educated" to love Russia and hate Ukraine. The goal is to erase the Ukrainian language, culture, memory, and to raise a generation loyal to the occupier.

The investigation has established several schemes for the export of children:

orphaned children or those left without care were taken "for treatment" or "rehabilitation";

families with children were forcibly relocated under the guise of "evacuation";

children whose parents were killed or captured were handed over to Russian orphanages.

All these facts are confirmed by documents, correspondence of the occupation administrations, lists of children, and testimonies of those who managed to return.

For effective investigation, a single criminal proceeding has been created, which combines all cases. To date, 22 individuals have been notified of suspicion, and 3 cases concerning 10 individuals have already been sent to court. Among the suspects are members of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, military personnel, representatives of the occupation authorities, collaborators from Kherson region, and others.

Ukraine is cooperating with international justice mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court, to hold accountable those directly responsible for the deportation of Ukrainian children.

In addition, by decisions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, sanctions have been imposed against 255 individuals and 53 organizations involved in this crime.

The deportation of Ukrainian children is not evacuation, but a war crime and part of Russia's genocidal policy. Ukraine is documenting every fact to ensure that all those responsible are punished.