Russia may have taken about 2500 orphans from Ukraine

Russia has deported about 2,500 orphans from Ukraine. This is reported by Vazhlyasni Istoryy with reference to the state database for adoption.

The journalists found that last year 21 Russian regions submitted 2,450 more orphans to this bank than the average for the previous six years.

According to the publication, it cannot be said that all these children were taken from Ukraine.

However, they were confirmed in two regions that Ukrainian children are indeed included in the database. In addition, these data are consistent with the statements of the Russian children's ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova, who in October 2022 said that "at different times there were 1,500-2,500 children" taken "from the dangerous areas of Donbas" in Russia.

The largest increase in the number of children registered in the database was in Rostov Oblast (573 children), Moscow (460 children), and Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (388 children).

In Russia, orphans taken from Ukraine are placed in children's institutions where "patriotic" activities are regularly held. Children also weave camouflage nets for the military, for example.

"Weaving a camouflage net is a painstaking task, and children's hands weave kindness and love into each of its cells, so this protection is more reliable than any armor," reads a photo report on the website of an orphanage in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

Some institutions invite Russian soldiers who have been at the front to speak. At the same time, the children include not only orphans who lived in orphanages in Ukraine but also those whose parents died in the war.

Among other things, children are regularly transferred between institutions and sent from one region to another. Some are even taken to the Far North, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. According to Vazhlyasni Istory, this makes it difficult to establish the exact number of children taken away.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 02/06/2023