Research: Most Ukrainian children abducted by russia come from vulnerable families

russian forces have predominantly forcibly taken Ukrainian children from families facing difficult life circumstances, according to recent research.

Daria Kasyanova, Chair of the Ukrainian Child Rights Network, presented these findings during the unveiling of a study at Media Center Ukraine, focusing on children illicitly taken by russia amid the ongoing war.

“Children from what we define as vulnerable families were the most impacted,” said Kasyanova. “These include children from single-parent households, orphans, those deprived of parental care, children with disabilities, kids raised by parents with disabilities, children from large families, and those in boarding schools—whether they had parents or not. Many of these families had no idea where to seek help or who to turn to. They often went unnoticed by state agencies, making it difficult to provide them with the support they needed.”

Kasyanova explained that the majority of children illegally deported by russia had been living with families, though many had previous experience in boarding schools.

“Statistically, most of these children were in family settings. But even those in families often had prior experience in boarding schools. Some had been returned home, while others were in institutions and later returned. We saw that many of these children, previously in institutions, went on to schools for orphans or those deprived of parental care. All these layers of vulnerability were evident and underscored in the data,” Kasyanova noted. 

The research report, titled “(Non-)Return of Children: Ukraine Faces Its Greatest Challenge Since Independence,” was a joint effort by the Regional Center for Human Rights, the Ukrainian Child Rights Network, and the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation. It features in-depth interviews with children, parents, and guardians about their experiences in russian-occupied areas, along with insights from organizations working to reunite children with their families in Ukraine.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news