Over 300 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred to Russian families.

At least 42 children who were forcibly deported from Ukraine have already been placed under guardianship or adopted by Russians. This information is included in a report from the Yale University School of Public Health, published on Tuesday, December 3.

Since February 2022, the enemy has transferred at least 314 children from Ukraine to Russian families as part of a policy of forced guardianship and adoption, including:

• 148 children have been placed in Russian adoption centers,
• 42 have already been put under guardianship or adopted,
• 67 have been granted Russian citizenship.

The report concerns children from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. It also notes that Russian databases obscure the children's origins, presenting them as native Russians. They have been taken to at least 21 regions of Russia.

The document emphasizes that the number of children is not final, as it was not possible to thoroughly review all child profiles in the adoption databases and investigate all potential cases.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted to the study, stating that the report demonstrates to the world what Russia is doing to erase Ukrainian identity.

“Ukraine is constantly working to ensure that our children return home, and that all those responsible for the horrific crime of abduction are held accountable. This is a complex challenge, but we are doing everything necessary, and we are grateful to everyone who helps us,” he added.

It is worth noting that on December 2, six more children were returned to Ukraine from territories temporarily occupied by Russians.

On October 8, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported that four families with seven children had been returned to Ukraine from the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regions.