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Putin Personally Oversaw Forced Deportation of Ukrainian Children to Russia, UN Report Confirms
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The deportation and forced transfer of hundreds of Ukrainian children to Russia took place with the involvement of the country’s top leadership, including the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, according to the BBC on March 13.
A new report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded that the removals were systematic and amount to crimes against humanity.
The document was presented at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2026. It details cases in which children were taken from temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine.
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“Russian authorities at the highest level—including President Vladimir Putin and structures directly subordinate to him—made decisions regarding the transfer of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation and their further movement within the country,” the commission stated.
Some children were placed in institutions or Russian foster families. Others had their documents and citizenship changed.
The commission found that these actions were not random. It concluded that decisions were made at the highest political level.
Investigators also concluded that Russian authorities built a system that made returns more difficult. In many cases, parents or relatives were not told where the children had been taken.
Moscow has described the transfers as “evacuation” during the war. Ukrainian authorities have information on about 20,000 children taken by Russia after the full-scale invasion.
The findings were supported by additional data on the number of children moved from occupied Ukrainian regions.
A UN commission said Russia’s deportation and transfer of 1,205 Ukrainian children from five regions amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, citing verified evidence in its March 9 findings.
The commission indicated that Russian authorities often failed to inform parents of children’s whereabouts and did not create a return mechanism, with about 80% still not back in government-controlled territory.
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