ISW: Russian officials continue to kidnap children under guise of 'vacations'

Russian officials continue to kidnap and transport Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories to Russia under the guise of 'summer vacations,' the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its assessment from Aug. 5.

The so-called "stolen generation," of Ukrainian children are usually adopted by Russian families and brainwashed with Russian propaganda, stripping them of their Ukrainian identity and taking them away from living relatives.

The deporation of Ukrainian children to Russian territory is a war crime and constitutes genocide according to one of the five definitions given in the United Nations' Genocide Convention.

On 17 March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s Commissioner for Children's Rights.

The ISW has previously reported instances of Russian officials using the guise of “holidays” and vacation schemes to justify the transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea.

Stolen generation. Russia systematically abducts children from Ukraine, gives them to Russian families

Editor’s Note: The story is based on the documentary Uprooted, published by the Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigation Unit. Russia is systematically deporting Ukrainian children from the occupied part of Ukraine against their will – which constitutes genocide according to one of the five defi…

The Kyiv IndependentOlesia Bida