Europol identifies 45 Ukrainian children deported to Russia and Belarus in an operation with Spanish participation

The investigations managed to collect data about transfer routes or people involved in deportations in the war in Ukraineincluding those responsible for orphanages, military units, as well as facilities and camps where minors would have been taken.

The operation, in which 40 experts also participated, also identified digital platforms with images of minors who could have been deported and possible cases of children who could be being integrated into Russian military structures as part of the war in Ukraine.

This is the second operation focused specifically on the location of forcibly transferred Ukrainian minors, a practice that could constitute a war crime under international law.

Ukrainian authorities estimate that More than 19,500 children have been deported or transferred from occupied territories to Russia or Belarus since the beginning of the invasion.

Some would have been adopted by Russian familiess, while others remain in “reeducation” centers or psychiatric institutions.

The participating experts used advanced digital tools and open source analysis techniques to track these minors and identify possible perpetrators of their transfer, and the Results will be analyzed and shared with Ukrainian authorities to support their judicial investigations.

Countries such as Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, among others, participated in the operation, as well as organizations specialized in documenting international crimes.

The ICC has issued since 2023 at least six arrest warrants for different crimes in Ukraine, including one against Russian President Vladimir Putinand another against Russian politics María Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Russia.

To both accuses them of illegal deportation of Ukrainian children and their transfer from occupied areas in Ukraine to Russia, a war crime according to the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC.