Canada Sanctions 8 Russians Linked to Deportation and Militarization of Ukrainian Children

Canada has imposed sanctions on eight individuals over their involvement in the unlawful deportation, forcible transfer, indoctrination, and militarisation of Ukrainian children.

This was reported by Bring Kids Back UA, an initiative of Ukraine's president, on September 11.

The measures entered into force on September 4 and were announced during the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Canada, the initiative noted.

Canada co-chairs the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children and has worked to establish the personal responsibility of those who run Russia's machinery for removing and re-educating children, according to the statement.

Those added to the list include Grigory Gurov, head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, known as Rosmolodezh. The initiative reported that he runs programs moving Ukrainian children from occupied territories into Russia's education system.

Artur Orlov, chairman of the children and youth movement "Movement of the First," conducts so-called "military-patriotic education" of Ukrainian children and prepares them for service in the Russian army, the release stated.

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Denis Chernobay heads the movement's branch in occupied Donetsk, drawing children from occupied territory into militarised programs. Alexandra Kulgina, an official in Donetsk's occupation youth structures, pulls children and young people into Russian "youth" and labour programs.

The package also names Aleksandr Kurenkov, Russia's Minister for Emergency Situations, and Vitaliy Suk, director of the Oleshki boarding institution for children with disabilities in the occupied Kherson region.

Vladimir Khromov works in the office of Russia's Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights, a body central to removing Ukrainian children and placing them with Russian families and institutions. Elena Milskaya used volunteers from a Russian children's charity as cover to remove children, including orphans, to Krasnodar Krai via occupied Crimea in October 2022, the release stated.

"Every decision of this kind makes responsibility personal."

Maksym Maksymov

head of Bring Kids Back UA

Bring Kids Back UA was launched in 2023 to unite Ukraine and its partners around the return of children abducted by Russia. As of August 28, 2026, 2,510 children who had been deported, forcibly displaced, or left in occupied territory had been brought home under the initiative, it reported.

With the new package, Canadian sanctions against Russia now cover more than 3,500 individuals and entities, the government stated. More than 600 shadow-fleet vessels are listed separately.

The Canadian measures form part of a widening Western effort to penalize those behind the removal of Ukrainian children. The European Union adopted an initial package in May, targeting 16 Russian officials and seven entities tied to the systematic deportation, indoctrination, and illegal adoption of Ukrainian minors.

In early September, EU representatives moved to weigh further restrictions, timed to the Second International Conference on the Return of Ukrainian Children, Civil Detainees, and Prisoners of War, co-hosted by Canada, Ukraine, and Norway in Toronto on September 28–29.

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