What changed

B100252/2025

on Return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported by Russia

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

B100258/2025

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

(2025/2691(RSP))

having regard to its previous resolutions on Russia

having regard to Article II of the UN Genocide Convention (1948)

having regard to Rule 150 of its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to its previous resolutions on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, ​

whereas Russia has been forcibly transferring and deporting Ukrainian children since 2014; whereas the first documented case of Ukrainian children being unlawfully taken to Russia dates back to 2014; whereas this practice has significantly accelerated since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine;

having regard to the Geneva Conventions, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Rome Statute, the Hague Convention, and to resolutions by the PACE;

whereas UN investigators have stated that the forcible transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children constitute a war crime under international law; whereas the forcible transfer of children from one national or ethnic group to another constitutes a genocide; whereas Russia is committing genocide;

having regard to the arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children,

whereas Ukrainian authorities have confirmed the deportation of approximately 20,000 children, while the exact number remains unknown; whereas these deportations continue in Ukrainian territories illegally occupied by Russia;

whereas over 19,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia or Russian-occupied territories, with many subjected to illegal adoption, identity changes, indoctrination and militarisation aimed at erasing their Ukrainian identity; whereas the estimated number of unreported cases is likely to be significantly higher; whereas only 1300 children have returned from deportation, forced transfers or temporarily occupied territories, according to the Bring Kids Back UA initiative founded by President Zelenskyy;

whereas Russian authorities falsely portray these acts as “evacuations” and systematically erase all ties between the children and Ukraine; whereas the children are subjected to identity manipulation, including the alteration of official documents such as birth certificates and passports, the forced acquisition of Russian citizenship, and changes to their names, all aiming to make them untraceable;

whereas Ukrainian families in the temporarilyforcibly occupiedtransferred territorieschildren are threatenedoften withplaced thein separationfoster ofcare theiror childrenadopted ifby theyRussian refusefamilies towithout exchangethe consent of their Ukrainianlegal passportsguardians foror Russianthe ones;Ukrainian state;

whereas the forcible transfer of children is a war crime and may amount to genocide under the Genocide Convention;

whereas Russia currently occupies over 20% of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, home to over 1.5 million children, all of whom are at risk of forced deportation and identity erasure;

whereas Russia obstructs efforts to trace and repatriate these children, denies access to international organizations and withholds information from Ukrainian authorities;​

whereas the ICC has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, on charges related to the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children.

Strongly condemns the violent actions of the Russian Federation and the role of Belarus against Ukrainian children, including killings, injuries, forced transfer and deportation, sexual abuse, exploitation, pro-Russian indoctrination and militarization;

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Demands the immediate cessation of these practices and calls for the safe return of all Ukrainian children to their families or legal guardians in Ukraine;​

Strongly condemns the systematic forcible transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children carried out by the Russia; declares that these actions meet the legal definition of genocide; calls on all Member States to officially recognize them as such;

Insists that the unconditional return of all Ukrainian children, as well as the release of POWs and civilian hostages, must be a precondition for the start of peace negotiations;

Denounces all war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Russia in line with the findings of the ICC; calls for the immediate enforcement of the ICC’s arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova; urges Member States to fully cooperate with all ongoing international investigations and judicial proceedings;

Urges Russia to provide comprehensive information onDemands the identities, locations,immediate and currentunconditional statusreturn of all Ukrainian children who have been forciblyunlawfully transferred or deported and to grantRussia; immediatereiterates andits unhinderedsupport accessfor Ukraine to internationallocate organizationsand toreunite monitorchildren with their conditionsfamilies andas facilitatewell as their return;​initiatives to document and prosecute these crimes; calls for the reinstatement and expansion of independent tracking projects;

Commends the work of civil society organisations and individuals who tirelessly work to rescue Ukrainian children;

Urges the EU and Member States to expand sanctions to include all individuals and institutions involved in these crimes;

Supports the initiative Bring Kids Back UA and International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children and calls for active EU and its Members States support and participation; urges the US to maintain its funding to research tracking deportations;

Calls on third countries not to recognize illegal adoptions or documentation issued by Russian authorities in this context;

Calls for increased support to Ukrainian institutions and CSOs working on the return and reintegration of affected children;​

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the HR/VP of the Commission, the parliaments of the Member States, the Ukrainian authorities, and the ICC.

Urges the Commission and Member States to utilize all legal instruments to hold to account those responsible and impose additional targeted sanctions against individuals and entities involved in the violent actions against Ukrainian children;​

Regrets that the ICRC does not fulfil its mission in Russia and the Russian-occupied territories;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the HR/VP, UN, ICRC and the President and government of Ukraine.