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Russia Launches Online Catalog Listing Ukrainian Children for Adoption, Featuring Traits Like “Obedient”
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![Photo of Maryna Kulakova]( "Photo of Maryna Kulakova")
Russian occupation authorities in Ukraine have created an online "catalog" where Ukrainian children are listed for adoption, sorted by physical traits such as eye and hair color, the head of a Ukrainian NGO Save Ukraine revealed on August 6. The practice was condemned as child trafficking.
The database, which includes information on 294 children, is hosted by the education department of the Russian occupation authorities in Luhansk region.
Mykola Kuleba, CEO of the Save Ukraine organization, said in an Instagram post, “Most of the children in this catalog were born in Luhansk region before the Russian occupation and held Ukrainian citizenship."
"Some parents were killed by Russian occupation forces, while others had their children’s documents altered to legitimize their abduction."
Kuleba further explained that children from Russian-occupied territories since 2014, including Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, have been "systematically deported" and placed in Russian families across Moscow and other regions.
The Russian-run database categorizes the children as "orphans and children left without parental care," allowing users to filter by age, eye color, hair color, and preferred type of guardianship, such as adoption or foster care.
Each child is introduced with photos, age, gender, and character traits, with some labeled as "obedient" or "calm."
Kuleba condemned the database, stating, "The way they describe our children is indistinguishable from a slave catalog. This is child trafficking in the 21st century, and the world must act to stop it immediately."
He further noted that the database is part of a strategy to "improve" the adoption system, as demand for adoptions continues to fall.
As of August 2025, Ukrainian authorities have documented the abduction of over 19,500 children by Russian forces since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. These children have been forcibly transferred to Russia or Russian-occupied territories, where they are subjected to re-education programs aimed at erasing their Ukrainian identity. While efforts to reunite families continue, only a small fraction of these children have been returned to Ukraine.
Previously, the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children has issued a strong call for Russia to immediately and unconditionally return children abducted from Ukraine.
