16 thousand Ukrainian children deported to russia have been identified, 400 have been placed in foster care, and there are cases of changing personal data — Kateryna Rashevska

Identifying Ukrainian children forcibly deported to russia remains the most pressing problem for the state. Kateryna Rashevska, an expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights, made this statement during a briefing at Media Center Ukraine — Ukrinform.

“We have documented cases of children’s data being changed, for example, when put through the so-called ‘re-education camps‘ to avoid obtaining parental consent to adoption. They faked children’s ages by adding years and then relocated them to the territory of Crimea. The child was kept there, unable to return, because according to their documents, they were no longer children, thus with freedom of movement restricted under russian law. There are also very young children who, because of their injuries, can not remember their names and can be called by any other name. We have a problem with identification. It is the very first problem that the state faces that needs to be solved. There are 16 thousand children already identified. In 2022, 400 children were sent to russian foster families,” Rashevska said.

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