Members of the European Parliament condemned the "strategy of genocide" carried out by Russia with the support of Belarus, aimed—according to the resolution—at erasing Ukrainian identity. “The forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children, their illegal adoption, killings, forced Russification, and militarization must stop,” reads a press release on the European Parliament’s website.
MEPs stated that Russia must disclose the whereabouts of all Ukrainian children it has taken, provide their data, and ensure their safe return home. The resolution also calls for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN, and UNICEF to be granted access to all deported Ukrainian children.
The European Parliament urges the EU and its member states to join the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, and calls on the international community to hold Russia accountable by strengthening coordination through the International Criminal Court in The Hague and the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.
The resolution also emphasizes that any peace agreement must include the repatriation of these children and accountability for their forced displacement.
According to official data from Ukrainian authorities, 19,546 children have been deported from Ukraine to Russia since the start of the full-scale war—this figure includes only those cases that could be officially documented. Russia, for its part, claims to have taken in 700,000 children. On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s Commissioner for Children's Rights, for the illegal deportation of children from occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia.
