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Oleksandr Pavlichenko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, confirms that Russia’s deportation of children primarily violates the Rome Statute, the Fourth Geneva Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights, among other related international agreements.

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Researchers at Yale University’s School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab have been among the most active in investigating the deportations, with findings from each of their studies immediately sent to the ICC.

The abduction of a child from an occupied territory can be reported on the Children of War portal. The child’s information is then entered into Ukrainian government agencies and databases. Abductions can also be reported to the National Police of Ukraine and the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.

According to Daria Herasymchuk, commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children’s Rights, in most cases parents are told their children are being taken to recreational camps for their health and wellness. Refusal is not an option.

“The problem is that, unfortunately, no international organisation, no country, not even Ukraine itself, can say exactly how many children have been abducted by Russian authorities,” Herasymchuk continued. “It’s possible that even the Russians themselves don’t know this number. They had reported abducting 744,000 Ukrainian children before the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and his Children’s Rights Commissioner, Lvova-Belova.”

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Mykola Kuleba, Ukraine’s former presidential commissioner for children’s rights and founder of the Save Ukraine organisation, reported that from the beginning of the full-scale war until October 30, 2025, Save Ukraine had successfully returned 1,001 Ukrainian children from occupied territories and deportation. This was made possible by financial support from international partners, particularly European organisations.

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