Ukrainian law enforcement officers have informed three officials of the so-called "DPR", in particular its leader Denis Pushylin, of suspicion of involvement in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Office of the Prosecutor General.
According to the investigation, after the full-scale invasion of Russia, Ukrainian children were taken to the boarding house "Polyany" in the suburbs of Moscow, which is part of the structure of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation.
It is about 16 minor boys and 15 girls. Among them are three children from Mariupol, who were forcibly taken from their father by the Russians and sent to the Olenivka colony.
Also, 19 orphans and children deprived of parental care were deported from Mariupol. Another 9 minors were abducted from childrenʼs social centers in the cities of Shakhtarsk and Khartsyzk.
SBU documented that the Kremlinʼs instruction to deport Ukrainian children from the Donetsk region was carried out by the head of the local occupation administration of the Russian Federation Denis Pushylin.
For this purpose, he signed "Resolution No. 84" on the departure of children allegedly for "rehabilitation" in medical institutions and recreation facilities on the territory of Russia.
The Gauleiter entrusted the implementation of this instruction to his "advisors" — Eleonora Fedorenko and Svitlana Maiboroda, who head the "Service for Family and Children of the DPR".
As the investigation revealed, the kidnapped children were first taken to the temporarily occupied Donetsk, then transported by bus to Rostov-on-Don, and then by plane to Moscow. From there, the minors were taken to the suburban boarding house of the Putin administration.
In the future, some of the deported children were transferred to citizens of the Russian Federation for "education". In particular, one child was placed with the family of the representative of the President of the Russian Federation on childrenʼs rights Maria Lvova-Belova.
SBU informed Pushylin, Fedorenko and Maiboroda in absentia about the suspicion of violation of the laws and customs of war. The maximum penalty is 12 years in prison.
- Deportation of Ukrainian children is one of Russiaʼs war crimes, for which the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the childrenʼs ombudsman of the Russian Federation Maria Lvova-Belova. Currently, at least 19 546 Ukrainian children are known to have been forcibly deported to Russia, less than 400 of them have been returned. Ukraine also has evidence that Belarus is involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children.
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