The Russian authorities are actively deporting children from the temporarily occupied territories to Russia and Belarus. 19,546 people were deported for the reason of "health improvement", "rest", "getting education". Children from Luhansk oblast are also among them. Therefore, the so-called "occupiers' concern" is fake.
What is their real goal? Why are these trips considered to be deportation? Cities and places where children were deported, conditions in which they are staying. TRYBUN devoted the material to these topics.
Children's trips to the Russian Federation: what do the occupiers say?
The occupiers have been organizing trips with so-called "good intentions" for children from the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk oblast for a long time. This process has been lasting since 2014. During the period of the full-scale invasion, from February 24, 2022, the number of deported children and the geography of their placement increased.
The purposes of children's trips to the territory of Russia for the reason of "health improvement", "rest", "getting education" is the instillation of love for Russia, its culture, education of patriotism. The Russians do this in order to make children grow up in a Russian environment and never identify themselves with the Ukrainian nation.
Republican information agency "RIA Kalmykia" on July 27, 2023 in its article "Children from Luhansk People's Republic came to Kalmykia for vacation republic" reported:
"140 children from the city of Anthracite and the Anthracite district of Luhansk
People's Republic" arrived at the "Cossack Cadet Corps" of the Horodovykiv district.
They planned to accept only 500 children.
During the rest, the children studied the history of the Russian Federation, its culture, the basics of security and played sports.
“The children will spend two weeks in Kalmykia, there are 140 people in each group, and the staff of the Cossack Corps together with the Pedagogical College Elista prepared the program “My Country is Russia”. The main aim of the program is to promote the formation and development of patriotism, national identity and ethnic tolerance among children and teenagers.
Much attention will be paid to the tolerance of three cultures of peoples of Russia (Mongolian, Slavic and peoples of the North Caucasus), healthy lifestyle, studying traffic rules, fire security and many other topics."
Children from Anthracite and Anthracite District visited "Cossack Cadet Corps" in Kalmykia one more time. This is evidenced by another piece of news
on "RIA Kalmykia" dated July 7, 2023, in which it was reported that:
"In the Horodovykiv district, in a solemn atmosphere, the children from the city of Anthracite and Antratsytiv district "LPR" were sent home after a successful rest in the district camp. 139 children - boys and girls from 11 to 16 years of age - took part in the shift."
The National Resistance Center of Ukraine also reported about taking children from Luhansk oblast to Kalmykia, visiting The "Cossack Cadet Corps".
"During July, the Russians took about 280 children from Antratsytivskyi district (temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk oblast) to "Cossack Cadet Corps" in the Republic of Kalmykia, the Russian Federation".
At the beginning of October 2023, the occupation authorities sent 96 children from Lysychansk for rest in the "Zarechye" camp, which is located under Kazan,the Republic of Tatarstan. The so-called administration of Lysychansk published this information in its Telegram channel:
“96 children from Lysychansk went to the Zarechye health camp,” which is located near Kazan. Thanks to our bosses – the Republic of Tatarstan - this year more than 500 children from Lysychansk have improved their health. The geography of the deportation of children from Luhansk oblast is wide. 96 children from Luhansk oblast went to "health improvement", sanatorium treatment in the "Berezka" camp near Novosibirsk.
“Оn June 29, 2023 Novosibirsk News” wrote:
“96 young guests from Luhansk people's republic are resting in a camp near Novosibirsk. They are introduced to robotics, taught to draw, children take part in discos, quests and sports games. A sanatorium treatment program was drawn up for each child. And so that children do not lag behind school curriculum, lessons are organized for them.”
On June 10, 2023 "Luhansk Information Center" published the news about the arrival of 150 children from the Starobilsk district for a vacation in Karachay-Cherkessia (footnote - is part of the North Caucasus federal district). Two weeks boys and girls will spend time in the camps "Lesnoe" in Mykolaivske and "Sosenka" in Dausuz village.
The Government of the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic reports that 750 children from Luhansk oblast will rest in Karachay-Cherkessia during three months.
From Pervomaisk, Luhansk oblast- to Kaluga oblast, the Russian Federation. This time, on June 19, 2023, the occupiers sent 48 children aged 8 to 17 to the village of Mstikhino, Kaluga oblast, to the "Vityaz" country health camp.
Serhii Kolyagin, the so-called head of the administration of the city of Pervomaisk of Luhansk oblast, in his Telegram channel noted that the group included gifted children and children from large families.
According to the information of "Luhansk Information Center", on June 4, 2023, three groups of children from Pervomaisk and other settlements of Luhansk oblast went to rest and improve health in Samara, Anapa and Kaluga oblast.
A summer "vacation" of children from Luhansk oblast on the territory of Russia was planned in advance.
Ivan Kusov, the so-called Minister of Education and Science of the so-called LPR, reported in May 2023:
“This year we plan to increase the number of trips for our children to other regions of the Russian Federation for rest and health improvement. Last year, about 15 thousand children left. This year we are targeting up to 20 thousand in total under various programs jointly, including with the Ministry of Culture. Now quotas have been confirmed for 13,600 children in different directions - these are our flagships (health centers) “Artek”, “Eaglet”, “Scarlet Sails”, “Ocean” and so on".
However, there is no information or news about the children's return home to the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk oblast. Accordingly, this is a reason for the assumption that the boys and girls remained on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Not only in Russia
Each time, the occupiers take children from Luhansk oblast even further and further. Teenagers were also sent for "health improvement" to Novopolotsk, the Republic of Belarus. On September 18, 2023, 24 people from Sievierodonetsk went there.
The so-called official telegram channel of the so-called city administration of Sievierodonetsk posted information:
"Children from Sievierodonetsk went to the Republic of Belarus for health improvement. 24 young residents of Sievierodonetsk will have a rest in city of Novopolotsk. There children can undergo treatment and rehabilitation on the basis of the children's health care institution of the Novopolotsk central city hospital.”
The occupiers did not leave orphans without their attention and "assistance". They were also deported to various cities of the Russian Federation. Some even were found new families, which complicates and makes impossible the process of the return of the child by the Ukrainian side.
As of April 14, 2022, it was known that 585 children from Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts came to Stavropol krai.The Russian news agency "Regnum" published an article "Stavropol krai welcomed 585 children from Donbas" with commentary of regional governor Volodymyr Volodymyrov:
“585 children arrived in Stavropol krai from the war zone in Donbas. The regional authorities care about all minors and actively participate in their fate.169 people were enrolled in schools, 34 children - in kindergartens.”
The governor also stated:
“Currently, the relatives of these children are being sought, and Commissioners for Human Rights in Luhansk and Donetsk are assisting in this matter. Besides, work is underway to establish guardianship over those left without parents of minors. According to a simplified scheme, we help those who are close to the child to obtain guardianship so that they can care for and look after the children legally.”
There are many similar cases regarding the deportation of children, their distribution to new ones Russian families, registration of guardianship over them by the Russians. Information is recorded both by the occupation and Ukrainian authorities.
Recently, on September 13, 2023, it became known about two teenagers from Luhansk oblast, whom "volunteers" took to Novosibirsk. The reason of deportation is the so-called special operation (footnote Russian-Ukrainian war).
The story of the children was covered by "Novosibirskie Novosti". In the article it is written:
“A couple from Novosibirsk with many children sheltered two teenagers from the front line and these people are going to adopt them now. Victoria Zema and Serhii Novikov are cousins from Luhansk people's republic, they have been living in a large family of spouses Olha and Serhii Mayorov from Novosibirsk for several months. From the frontline children were taken out by volunteers to shelter them for a while special operations. Now the Mayorovs are preparing documents so that teenagers could study."
Experts' opinion on the deportation of children
Actual information about children injured as a result of active hostilities and temporary occupation is posted on the "Children of War" portal. It was created by the Ministry of Reintegration together with the National information bureau on behalf of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
According to the National Information Bureau, published on portal, 19,546 children were deported and/or forcibly relocated. According to data from open sources announced by the Russian Federation, 744,000 boys and girls were deported. According to the National Police of Ukraine, 18 606 children were found, 1206 people are considered missing.
TRYBUN journalist spoke with Kateryna Rashevska, human rights defender, lawyer of the Regional Center for Human Rights, to find out the reasons and grounds for the deportation of children from temporarily occupied territories, in particular Luhansk oblast. This conversation also helped refute thematic fakes actively spread by the enemy in the media from a legal point of view.
Reasons and grounds for deporting children to the territory of the Russian Federation and Belarus
According to Kateryna Rashevska, the enemies are taking away children from the temporarily occupied territory to Russia and Belarus and they want to justify it as humanitarian factors.
The lawyer singles out the following reasons for the deportation of children:
1."Evacuation". It began at the beginning of a full-scale invasion. However, there were recorded cases of deportation of children a few days before the invasion, on February 18.
2. Re-education or rest in Russian camps. The foundation appeared at the end of May 2022.
3. Health improvement. The basis is Putin's order regarding the holding dispensation in the newly occupied territories.
"This is not accidental. These reasons are provided in the Geneva Convention or in additional Protocol 1.The occupiers are trying to present it all for the international community as export with a legitimate purpose, i.e. not illegal deportation," the human rights activist said.
4. Demographic problems in the Russian Federation.This is evidenced by statistics from relevant Russian agencies, as well as information in the report of the Commissioner under the President of the Russian Federation for the Rights of the Child Maria Lvova-Bilova. It points out that the Russian Federation has been experiencing negative natural growth for several years. 68% of Russian families do not aspire have even one child. So, they need Ukrainian children from a biological point of view, for survival.
5. Replenishment of the mobilization fund. Children are a quick resource. The occupiers note that they are taking away children aged 16-17. In the future, they are placed in camps for re-education and militarization.
6. Selection and removal of status children and children from educational institutions to study in Russian institutions, academies, colleges, institutes.
"In this way, Russia is trying to strengthen itself from the point of view of human resources and weaken Ukraine," Rashevska says.
Where are Ukrainian children being deported?
The geography of the deportation of children from the temporarily occupied territories, in particular Luhansk oblast, is very wide. These can be regions that are 8,000 km away from the child's permanent residence. The National Resistance Center of Ukraine developed a map on which it is possible to see the cities where Ukrainian children are deported and the places where they are staying.
Kateryna Rashevska emphasizes that the most cases of deportation have been recorded in such points as:Rostov-on-Don, Moscow region, Moscow, Leningrad oblast, St. Petersburg, Kursk, Penza, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, temporarily occupied Crimea.
"At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the occupiers took children to the nearest border regions to the occupied territories. Later, the children were sent throughout the Russian Federation. We know that presence of Ukrainian children have been recorded in 57 regions of the Russian Federation, in particular, in the territories of South Ossetia and the Republic Belarus," the lawyer comments.
Children from the temporarily occupied Luhansk oblast are taken by the enemy to the territory Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.There is information about minors in Novopolotsk, Minsk, Ostroshytskyi Township, Dubrava camp, Belarusian medical institutions.
Places where children are staying in deportation
After Ukrainian children reach the territories controlled by the Russian authorities, they are immediately sent in special places or placed in new families. It can be orphanages of any kind camps, sanatoriums, hospitals, etc.
According to human rights activist Kateryna Rashevska, the Russian Federation has completely distorted children's trust in any medical institution. They use medical facilities as temporary detention centers, copying Nazi Germany in this point.
"Children are kept there to decide their future fate. During this time they are issued with Russian documents or their Ukrainian certificates of birth are spoiled with a stamp on granting Russian citizenship.From these hospitals, children can be distributed to new families or sent to an orphanage," the lawyer of the Regional Center for Human Rights says.
Mrs. Kateryna assures that there were cases when Ukraine was successful to stop the deportation of children, but they are not numerous.
Living conditions for children in deportation
Living conditions for deported children are completely different in the territories controlled by the Russian Federation. Analyzing the cases, human rights defender Kateryna Rashevska claims that there are children who live in prosperous families, where everything is provided and they have a good attitude. It is worth noting that Russian families receive several thousand dollars for Ukrainian children.
It all depends on the situation. For example, in the temporarily occupied Crimea the civilian population collected humanitarian aid for children who arrived from "new" occupied territories. Residents of Voronezh collected money to buy notebooks and books for boys and girls deported there.
However, footage of Ukrainian children being with inappropriate drunk persons sometimes appeared on the Internet. A case of raping a child in a Russian camp was recorded, despite the fact that everyone is talking about the safety of the camps.
The children who returned to Ukraine testify that the camps had no bedding, no coverings on the floor, and the food was terrible. They were forced to beg for food from the Russian military. The conditions did not meet the interests of the child.
"There was a case when our boy was not even bought winter shoes. He lived in the family of a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church. This fact might somehow affect their financial situation. However, this is not an excuse," the lawyer says.
Ukraine and independent monitoring missions do not have access to places of detention of deported children. Special representative of the general of the UN Secretary for Children and Armed Conflicts has completely removed herself from fulfilling her mandate and she did not visit these places.
Deportation of status children
The occupying power also deports status children to Russia (children who have the official status of "orphan" or "child deprived of a parent care". This means that such a child can be adopted). TRYBUN journalist spoke with Dariia Kasyanova, program director of SOS Children's Towns Ukraine, the head of the board of the "Ukrainian Network for Children's Rights" to find out what it is known about children's location and whether it is possible to return them home.
According to Dariia Kasyanova, children who were in residential institutions of Luhansk oblast, were taken to safe places in territories controlled by Ukraine at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. It is about Sievierodonetsk boarding school, Luhansk regional children's home in Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk Social and Psychological Center for rehabilitation of children.
However, many of the children who had status were in the care of relatives or in foster families, in family-type children's homes - remained under occupation.
"At the beginning of the full-scale war, we took out the families that were under our responsibility, to Truskavets, and later to Poland. Later, some families left the occupation on their own, and we helped some. Those who stayed at home did not leave because they did not understand where to go, because they knew what a resettled way of life is, or they didn't have money", - Ms. Darya says.
If parents cannot provide children with security in war conditions, that is impossible, urgently fulfill parental duties - the occupiers remove children from their families and take them to the territory of Russia. The occupiers offer the so-called " health improvement" for the child, but then parents cannot go and pick up their children.
"SOS Children's Towns Ukraine" and "Ukrainian Network for Children's Rights" approximately returned 120 children to the controlled Ukrainian territories.These are different cases. There are cases when returned children had no one at all" - the chairman of the board of the "Ukrainian Network for Children's Rights" says.
Thanks to the organizations, a 14-year-old teenager from Lysychansk, Luhansk oblast. His relative took him to Russia. The boy was in a shelter, later he was placed in a foster family, where he didn't like to be. Later, the boy was returned to the rehabilitation center in Luhansk. The way of his return was very difficult. The issue of his return was also dealt with by his sister, who took care of him.
What do Ukrainian authorities say about the deportation of children?
Dariia Herasimchuk, authorized adviser to the President of Ukraine on child rights and child rehabilitation, notes that Russia has a well-planned genocidal policy towards Ukrainian children. Its task is either to destroy, kill, mutilate, psychologically break children on the territory of Ukraine, or kidnap them and replenish their nation at our expense. In this way, they want to deprive Ukraine of children - the future of the country.
"All actions related to the genocidal policy of the Russian Federation did not begin now, after the full-scale invasion, and it has been lasting since 2014, immediately after the annexation of Crimea. Since 2014, Russians have been abducting children from the territories of Luhansk, Donetsk oblasts, AR Crimea, illegally adopting them, transferring them to various family forms, and illegally granting them Russian citizenship. Today, the occupiers have more kidnapping scenarios. It is known about 6 at least", Dariia Herasimchuk comments.
Today, state structures, bodies in cooperation with public sector, public organizations managed to return 386 Ukrainian children.
"This process is very difficult and it moves slowly, because, unfortunately, there is still no single algorithm of actions in such a case in the world. We have a lot of various international documents (Geneva Convention, International humanitarian law, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, etc.), which clearly regulate what rules countries should live by, how it should happen according to the social contract. However, when there is a country that does not want follow any rules, the system crashes.
On the example of Ukrainian children, we see that there is no global child safety system in the world. Today, saving our children, we create new this system, try to involve everyone in the process," authorized adviser to the President of Ukraine on children's rights and rehabilitation.
Dariia Herasimchuk emphasizes that many options are being developed now, cooperation with all possible structures and agencies, the UN, the European Union, international bodies, partner countries is ongoing to return deportees or unnamed displaced children as soon as possible.
"The difficulty is that we do not know where the children are, there is no contact with them. The Russian Federation does not recognize these children as held, so to speak, in captivity, as kidnapped. They do not report to anyone about them, do not give access to children. Accordingly, no one knows where the children are, how many there are, and their personal data. Therefore, the return process is long and difficult," says Ms. Dariia.
How is it possible to return a deported child?
On the website of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine there is an algorithm according to which relatives of a forcibly displaced or deported child can act to get the child back.
The Regional Center for Human Rights has developed an analytical note with step-by-step instructions on the actions of a child victim of deportation or forced displacement in order to return to the territories controlled by Ukraine. It can also be useful to child's relatives.
The author: Yuliia Kanzeba
