Three Moscow-appointed officials suspected of deporting 213 Ukrainian children from Donetsk Oblast to Russia

Three officials from the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" (DPR), a self-proclaimed Moscow-backed quasi-state formation in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, have been served with a notice of suspicion over the deportation of 213 Ukrainian children from Donetsk Oblast to Russia ahead of the full-scale invasion.

Source: Ruslan Kravchenko, Prosecutor General of Ukraine

Details: The "DPR" occupation authorities began deporting Ukrainian children on 16 February 2022, six days before the full-scale invasion.

At that time, heads of educational institutions were ordered to prepare lists of children, and on 18 February, 213 children from an orphanage were deported.

Quote: "Preparatory orders issued effectively six days before the full-scale invasion, in the absence of active hostilities, refute the Russian narrative of 'emergency evacuation' of children and confirm the fact of forced transfer."

Details: To date, none of the deported orphanage children have been brought back, and 73 have already been illegally placed with Russian families.

The deportation was organised by the "minister of education and science of the DPR", the "head of the Donetsk administration" and the orphanage's director.

These individuals are suspected of violating the laws and customs of war under Article 28.2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which covers crimes committed by prior conspiracy, and Article 438.1, which deals with war crimes.

Background: Under the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, 2,048 deported children have so far been brought back to Ukraine. In February, six Ukrainian children and teenagers were recovered from temporarily occupied territories.

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