Russian Abduction of Ukrainian Children is Part of Effort To Erase Ukrainian Identity

The “largest child abduction case since World War 2”  is set to be discussed by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress.

The March 25 hearing will focus on the Ukrainian children illegally abducted by Russia, who are estimated by Ukraine to number at nearly 20,000. The abductions are an example of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s determination to erase Ukrainian identity through forced “Russification” — a policy that was the basis for the 2023 arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for the Russian leader, along with Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.  

The commission’s hearing follows a report issued earlier in March by the UN Human Rights Council’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. Noting that the vast majority of the abducted children have not been returned more than four years after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, it concluded that, “Russian authorities committed the crimes against humanity of deportation and forcible transfer, as well as of enforced disappearances of children.”

Overwhelming Majority of Children Remain in Captivity

The UN commission concentrated on 1,205 Ukrainian children confirmed to have been deported from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine into Russian territory. So far, 80 percent have not been returned, and the locations of some are unknown. The report found that Russian authorities “unjustifiably delayed their repatriation” of those children who have been returned, with parents, legal guardians, or relatives having to locate children on their own.

The report asserts that Russian authorities have openly discussed the long-term placement and adoption of the abductees.  Many of the children are highly vulnerable, including orphans and those with disabilities, as well as children forcibly separated from their parents or guardians, and those who are too young to recall their families or homes.

Highest Levels of the Russian Government Involved

The report noted that the Russian government’s efforts to permanently place children with adoptive families have involved the issuing of Russian passports and falsifying the children’s names and birthplaces.

The findings echoed the European Court for Human Rights’s conclusion that the Russian government had pursued a “continuous sequence of acts in a pattern between 2014 and 2022 aimed at removing Ukrainian children from occupied territory in Ukraine and integrating them potentially indefinitely in families or institutions in Russia.” These efforts were pushed from the highest levels of the Russian government, including Putin and Lvova-Belova, who herself “adopted” a 15-year-old Ukrainian child and personally accompanied children during transfers. In a recent interview, Lvova-Belova described how she was able to “re-educate” her “adopted” son, who initially “did not want to go to Russia,” read Ukrainian websites while living with her family, and sang Ukrainian songs.

Children Forcibly Reeducated, Militarized

According to the Ukrainian organization Bring Kids Back, records exist concerning the possible abductions and forced transfer of approximately 20,000 children, just over 2,000 of whom have been returned to Ukraine. Separately, the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab published a report last September indicating that Ukrainian children had been taken to at least 210 facilities in Russia and Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, where they “routinely undergo ‘re-education’ and, in many cases, are placed in programs of forced militarization.”

According to the State Department, Russian officials installed in occupied parts of Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion established filtration centers at which Ukrainian citizens, including children, were subjected to “forced deportations, arbitrary detentions, and torture and other abuses” while “thousands of Ukrainian children,” including those with parents, were transferred to Russia for psychological “rehabilitation.”

U.S. Must Compel Immediate Return

The White House must unequivocally call for a full repatriation of all abducted Ukrainian children as part of any peace process. Additionally, a resolution to that effect is currently before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congress approved $15 million in 2025 to document Russia’s forcible abduction of children. Besides renewing this appropriation, a related option is to authorize funding to support family reunification efforts.

Additionally, Congress and the State Department should support designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism unless all children abducted from Ukraine are returned.

Dmitriy Shapiro is a research analyst and editor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Dmitriy and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Dmitriy on X @dmitriyshapiro. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security.