What changed

B100247/2025

European Parliament resolution on the return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported by Russia

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on Return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported by Russia

(2025/2691(RSP))

– having regard to Ruleits 150(5)previous ofresolutions itson RulesRussia’s war of Procedure,aggression against Ukraine,

whereas in 2023, a report from the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, confirmed that 'violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law' were committed in Ukraine and in Russia; whereas the violations documented included forced transfers and deportations of Ukrainian children;

– having regard to the UN Charter, the European Convention on Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the UN Convention on the rights of the child, and the Genocide Convention (CPPCG),

whereas an unclear number of Ukrainian children, have been forcibly transferred within occupied territory or deported outside Ukraine; whereas a recent UN Human Rights Office report has documented 200 cases (while acknowledging that the total number is unknown), while international organizations and the Ukrainian authorities have reported thousands of cases; whereas following that, children are distributed to 'centres for the promotion of family education', to start the procedure for acquiring Russian citizenship and adoption; whereas a limited number of children have returned to Ukraine;

– having regard to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas on 17 March 2023, ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova accused among other crimes, of the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of the population and children;

A. whereas since February 2022 around 20 000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to the Russian Federation and Belarus or detained in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, with only 1 293 returned and 624 confirmed dead, according to President Zelenskyy’s ‘Bring Kids Back UA’ initiative; whereas according to the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) the real figures are probably much higher, as these transfers and deportations continue;

Reiterates, in the strongest possible terms, its condemnation of the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine; expresses its deepest solidarity with the people of Ukraine and the families of all the victims;

B. whereas international law prohibits forcible transfer to an occupied territory or deportation from an occupied territory to the territory of the occupier, which is a war crime under the Rome Statute and may amount to genocide under the CPPCG;

Urges Russian authorities to immediate halt the forced deportation and transfer of Ukrainian civilians, including children, and their safe return to Ukraine; highlights that Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that 'individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons' are prohibited;

C. whereas on 17 March 2023 the ICC issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for their responsibility for the war crime of unlawful transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children;

Reminds to occupying powers that the international humanitarian law obliges them to protect children from the dangers arising from the war and its consequences, respect their national identity, and maintain the continuity of their education and culture;

1. Strongly condemns the violent actions of the Russian Federation and the complicity of Belarus in the mistreatment of Ukrainian children, including murder, forced transfer and deportation, illegal adoption, sexual abuse and exploitation, forced Russification and militarisation; stresses that these acts form part of a genocidal strategy to erase Ukrainian identity;

Calls for the establishment of a formal system, facilitated by independent neutral parties, to facilitate the reunification of Ukrainian children who have been forcibly deported with their guardians and carers, and to facilitate the return of vulnerable persons, such as people with disabilities and elderly people;

2. Urges the EU to hold those responsible to account and to sanction individuals and entities implicated in these crimes;

Calls on Russia to immediately cease its military aggression against Ukraine and to resume negotiations for ceasefire and peace agreements;

3. Demands that these crimes cease immediately and that Russia reports the identities and whereabouts of all deported Ukrainian children and ensures their well-being and safe and unconditional return;

Underlines the European Union’s leadership failure to pursue a serious diplomatic resolution to the war; stresses the urgent need for sustained diplomatic efforts to immediately put an end to the war and stop the suffering of the Ukrainian people; calls on EU institutions and member states to support an immediate ceasefire and a peace negotiation process that includes all parties;

4. Urges Russian federal and local authorities to grant international organisations, such as the ICRC, OHCHR and UNICEF, access to all deported Ukrainian children;

Calls for all allegations of international crimes to be investigated, and for perpetrators to be held accountable; denounces the double standards applied by the EU regarding sanctions and international justice;

5. Denounces the forced imposition of Russian citizenship on deported children and their state-sponsored adoption by Russian families as part of a deliberate policy of forced assimilation;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the VP/HR, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the UN, NATO, Ukraine as well as the President, Government and Parliament of the Russian Federation.

6. Calls for the EU to closely cooperate with and support Ukrainian authorities, international and non-governmental organisations in their efforts to document all missing and deported Ukrainian children; urges the international community, including the United States, to maintain HRL’s funding and the EU to ensure its continuation;

7. Emphasises that any genuine peace deal must include the repatriation of these children and accountability for forcible transfers and deportations;

8. Urges the international community to hold Russia accountable by reinforcing coordination through the ICC, the ICJ, and the Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine;

9. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the VP/HR, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the President, Government and parliament of Ukraine, and to the United States, Russia and Belarus.