The U.S. State Department has imposed visa restrictions on five Russian officials for their role in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.
"Many of these children have had their identities changed and origins obscured, have been subjected to pro-Russia indoctrination and militarization, or have been adopted by Russian families," U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Dec. 4.
"We will continue to promote accountability for perpetrators and support efforts to return Ukraine’s children," he added.
Since February 2022, at least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted from Russian-occupied territories and sent to other Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine or to Russia itself, according to a Ukrainian national database "Children of War." Less than 400 have been returned to Ukraine.
A Yale School of Public Health study published on Dec. 3 details Russia's systematic program of deporting and forcibly assimilating Ukrainian children.
Under orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin, children were transported via military aircraft in 2022, reclassified in Russian databases as native-born, and subjected to pro-Russian re-education before being adopted into Russian families. Ukrainian children had been transported to at least 21 regions throughout Russia.
The report identifies 314 children taken from occupied Luhansk and Donetsk regions, with over 60 granted Russian citizenship. Psychologists have been used to legitimize the program, falsely framing adoptions as medically necessary.
These findings, linking Putin and Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova directly to the program, will be submitted to the International Criminal Court as evidence of war crimes.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
