EU follows Britain in imposing sanctions against Russia for deportation of Ukrainian children

The EU Council has imposed sanctions against 16 more Russians and seven organizations responsible for the illegal deportation and forced assimilation of Ukrainian children.

This is stated in the statement of the Council of the EU.

The sanctions list includes federal state institutions affiliated with the Russian Ministry of Education, including the all-Russian childrenʼs centers "Orlyatko", "Chervoni Vytryla" and "Zmina". Together with the occupation authorities, they organize programs for Ukrainian children with pro-Russian ideological indoctrination, patriotic events and military training.

Other organizations accept children taken from the occupied territories of Ukraine and involve them in political education and basic military training programs. The DTSAAF in Sevastopol, the Nakhimov Naval Academy, and the “Patriot Club” in Crimea are engaged in re-education, militarization, and the formation of loyalty to Russia among children.

The sanctions list also includes officials and politicians from the illegally occupied territories, as well as leaders of youth camps and military-patriotic organizations. They are accused of promoting patriotic and military education of young people through ideological indoctrination, popularization of Russian military culture, paramilitary training, and participation in events glorifying Russian aggression.

The assets of all those targeted by the sanctions will be frozen in the EU. EU citizens and companies will be prohibited from providing them with funds or economic resources. The sanctioned individuals are also prohibited from entering and transiting through the territory of the European Union.

On the same day, Britain imposed similar sanctions for the deportation of Ukrainian children.

Deportation of children from Ukraine

The deportation of Ukrainian children is one of Russiaʼs war crimes, for which the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the Russian childrenʼs ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. Ukraine also has evidence that Belarus is participating in the deportation of Ukrainian children.

On December 3, 2025, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding the return of all illegally removed Ukrainian children.

Ukraine has officially confirmed that Russia has abducted about 20 000 Ukrainian children. The Russians themselves claim that they have taken away 744 000 children.

Currently, as part of the initiative of the President of Ukraine, “Bring Kids Back UA”, a little over two thousand abducted children have been returned to Ukraine.

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