What changed

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

B100249/2025

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’s war of aggressionUkraine againstand Ukraine,Russia,

– 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),

– having regard to Rule 150 of its Rules of Procedure,

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

whereas since 2022 Russia has forcibly transferred over 19,000 children from Ukraine to Russia in complete violation of international law; whereas the actual number of children remaining in Russia is likely higher, with the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab estimating a figure as high as 35,000 as of March 2025;

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;

whereas President Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Lvova-Belova were indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the unlawful transfer of children; whereas Article 6(e) of the Rome Statute proscribes the forcible transfer of children from one national group to another as genocide;

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;

whereas Russia targeted vulnerable groups of children for deportation, including orphans and children from low-income families; whereas Ukrainian human rights activists uncovered Kremlin documents dated prior to the full-scale invasion which laid out plans to remove Ukrainian children and bring them to Russia under the guise of “humanitarian evacuations”;

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;

whereas Putin signed a decree in May 2022 providing a simplified procedure for the acquisition of Russian citizenship for Ukrainian children; whereas many of the deported children are forced to endure “re-education” facilities, meant to instil pro-Russian sentiments though “military-patriotic” training while others have been forcibly adopted into Russian families; whereas Russia opened a cadet school for abducted Ukrainian children, creating a direct pipeline into the federal security forces;

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;

whereas the US State Department has paused funding for the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, with its massive data repository expected to be transferred to Europol and the future of its funding unclear;

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

Condemns in the strongest terms the abduction, re-education, and illegal adoption of Ukrainian children by the Russian authorities and considers that these actions may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity; demands the immediate return of all deported children to Ukrainian-held territories in Ukraine;

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;

Calls on the EU and Member States to use all tools at their disposal to pressure Russia into returning all children concerned and enable the prosecution of this crime in line with international law; calls on Member States to invigorate multilateral advocacy efforts, including through a UNGA resolution on the issue;

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

Reiterates its support for the ICC arrest warrant for Putin and Lvova-Belova and calls on all the Rome Statute signatories to implement it; calls on the Commission to urgently activate the Blocking Statute and on the Member States to increase their diplomatic efforts in order to protect and safeguard the ICC as an indispensable cornerstone of the international justice system;

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;

Regrets the pausing of US federal funds for Yale Humanitarian Research Lab’s renowned investigation into the deportation of Ukrainian children and calls on the EU and Member States to ensure this crucial research and data collection continues;

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;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the VP/HR, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President and Parliament of Ukraine, and the Russian authorities.

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.