14,000 children forcefully deported to Russia

MORE than 14,000 Ukrainian children have been forcefully deported to Russia or its territories in a deliberate ploy to “destroy Ukrainian ethnicity”, a charity warned, writes Marco Giannangeli.

Some have been so “brainwashed” by their time in Russia that they have even returned to Ukraine to fight on behalf of Russian forces.

Just half of Ukraine’s 6.5 million children still live with their parents in their homeland after nine years of Russian territorial gains, while 30 per cent have been forced to flee abroad.

But one in every five now live under the yoke of Russian control, either in annexed parts of the country or in Russia itself, leaving them vulnerable to forceful adoption.

The practice was first brought to public attention last year after the fall of Mariupol, but it has been going on since 2014. Children are taken to camps to be allocated Russian foster parents.

And a simplified naturalisation process recently introduced means children are given Russian passports soon after formal adoption, making tracing them again extremely difficult.

In many cases, Ukrainian parents who track down their children in camps and present correct documentation are informed their children have been “liberated” and are told to wait for the day when Russia controls the whole country.

Save Ukraine claims to have rescued more than 80,000 children from combat zones where they risked falling into Russian clutches. Moscow does not deny the practice of “adoption”, claiming it is part of a humanitarian effort to save the children from so-called “Nazi” influences.

Statetv shows children receiving teddy bears as they are ushered to a new home and new life.