The Institute for the Study of War reports that Russia's deportations of Ukrainians likely amount to a deliberate ethnic cleansing campaign in addition to apparent violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The ISW experts cite Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin who said on Oct. 14 that “several thousand” children from Kherson Oblast are “already in other regions of Russia, resting in rest homes and children’s camps. As ISW has previously reported, Russian officials openly admitted to placing children from occupied areas of Ukraine up for adoption with Russian families in a manner that may constitute a violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The experts add that Russia may additionally be engaged in a wider campaign of ethnic cleansing by repopulating Ukrainian cities with imported Russian citizens.
