Evidence Linking Five Russians To Abduction Of Ukrainian Children Submitted To ICC

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) The OSINT for Ukraine Foundation has submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court (ICC) implicating five Russian officials in the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia.

Natalia Yashtal, Co-director of the International Crimes Investigation Group (ICIG), shared this information with Ukrinform.

"We have filed an official submission to the ICC under Article 15 of the Rome Statute. Our goal is to expand existing investigations, particularly those concerning Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, and to hold mid-level officials accountable as well. Forced transfer of children is a crime that, under the Rome Statute, qualifies as either a war crime or genocide. We have provided evidence demonstrating a systematic attempt to forcibly relocate Ukrainian children to Russia, erase their Ukrainian identity, and integrate them into Russian society. We argue this constitutes genocide under Article 6(e) of the Rome Statute," Yashtal stated.

During the investigation, researchers uncovered networks of individuals and organizations facilitating the illegal transfer of children. The current submission focuses on five key figures: Aleksei Petrov, Advisor to Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, Aleksey Gazaryan, Head of the Office of the Children's Rights Commissioner, Anna Kuznetsova, former Commissioner for Children's Rights, who pushed legislative changes making it easier for Russian families to adopt Ukrainian children, Andrey Vorobyov, governor of Moscow region, Andrey Chibis, Governor of Murmansk region.

According to Yashtal, the two commissioners worked closely with Lvova-Belova to facilitate illegal transfers, while Kuznetsova lobbied for Russian laws easing the adoption of Ukrainian children. The two governors arranged the children's arrival, welcomed them, and found adoptive families in their regions.

"Each of these officials played a role in a well-coordinated scheme. Under Article 25(3) of the Rome Statute, their actions meet the legal standards for complicity in genocide, as they provided administrative, logistical, and moral support for these crimes," Yashtal explained.

She added that the evidence indicates that Ukrainian children are issued Russian passports, given new names, and placed in Russian families and schools. Some older children (ages 15-17) are sent to so-called "rehabilitation camps", with indications of possible sexual violence.

Denis Dirisu, an investigator and co-founder of OSINT for Ukraine, emphasized that the team relied on open-source intelligence (OSINT), gathering evidence from social media posts, official government websites, Kremlin and Duma decrees, photos, and videos - many of which were publicly shared by the perpetrators themselves.

Read also: Zelensky , Qatari PM discuss return of children abducted by Russia

"Tracking abducted children is extremely difficult. They grow and change quickly, which complicates facial recognition. Some turn 17-18 and may be conscripted into the Russian military, cutting off access to social media. Their names are changed, making identification even harder," Dirisu noted.

Earlier, Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, reported that Russia is conducting a systematic policy of erasing Ukrainian national identity, with 3,310 children from occupied Kherson alone subjected to forced Russification in the summer of 2024.

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