Ukrainian children were allegedly kidnapped to Russia with the knowledge of the international aid organization “SOS Children’s Villages”. ZDF Frontal uncovered the allegations about forced adoptions in February. The umbrella organization SOS Children’s Villages is now taking action: Russian membership will be suspended “with immediate effect”. Furthermore, “all financial means for SOS Russia Children’s Villages” would be frozen with immediate effect.
See the ZDF’s head-on survey of children abducted to Russia here:
Putin’s war of aggression has torn Ukrainian families apart – children have been orphaned. Kidnapping and adoption are now also stealing their homes and identities.
02/21/2023 | 10:16 minSince the beginning of the war, Russian authorities have been kidnapping Ukrainian children from the occupied territories – they are threatened with re-education in Russia. ZDF Frontal tracked the case of two kidnapped boys and spoke to domestic educators who managed to flee Russia along with the children they cared for.
How many other children from Ukraine suffer a similar fate is unknown. In September, the United Nations estimated that around 1,800 children and young people were abducted, and the Ukrainian government recently estimated as many as 14,000.
As is often the case in this war, it is difficult to judge whether the numbers are correct or not. The Humanitarian Research Laboratory at Yale University, in the United States, speaks of at least 6,000 children and young people who were systematically abducted to Crimea or to the interior of Russia. There they are often placed in Russian foster families, they are re-educated and must forget everything Ukrainian. Deportations are considered war crimes. Footage shows Ukrainian children being put up for adoption in Russia. They will be taken to red brick houses in the Tomilino settlement near Moscow. The settlement has been part of SOS Children’s Villages since 1990.
The aid organization wants to “give the children a safe home”, as it writes. When questioned by Frontal, SOS Children’s Villages admitted to knowing about 13 Ukrainian children in Russia. The investigation is ongoing, as the aid organization is reporting.
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