Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been forcibly moved out of their country and to Russia, according to officials and independent experts.
Dozens of sleuths have traced 45 Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia during an open-source investigative blitz hosted by Europol, it said on Monday.
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The Europol effort saw 40 investigators from 18 countries gather in The Hague for two days last week to use publicly available information known as open-source intelligence or OSINT to locate some of the children.
"In total, information about 45 children was uncovered and shared with Ukrainian authorities to assist their ongoing investigations," Europol said in a statement.
"During this hackathon, investigators relied on various digital tools in their searches allowing them to trace the whereabouts of the children," it said.
"Some of these children have been adopted by Russian nationals, while others are being held in re-education camps or psychiatric hospitals."
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, tens of thousands of Ukrainian children were forcibly deported to Russia, according to officials and existing data.
A UN international commission of inquiry recently accused Moscow of committing "crimes against humanity" and obstructing their return.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, for alleged war crimes involving the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
Efforts to return abducted children home
To date, Ukraine has managed to bring back around 2,000 children forcefully deported by Russia.
Ukrainian authorities have so far confirmed some 20,000 cases, while independent experts and human rights organisations believe the number could be as high as 300,000.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said that the true number of deported children is almost impossible to verify.
For Ukraine it can take years to return one child from Russia after abduction, from the beginning of the identification until the return takes place.
Almost every return so far has been mediated by a third state, notably Qatar, South Africa and the Vatican.
Maksym Maksymov, head of projects at Bring Kids Back Ukraine, told Euronews that, with the returns, Kyiv is also seeking international support in its investigations.
"Ukraine is working with international partners to bring every deported child home and to document these crimes for both national and international justice," he said.
"The scale of these violations goes far beyond a single case, which is why sustained cooperation is essential," Maksymov explained.
In March, the United Nations said that the deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia constitutes a crime against humanity and a war crime.
A new report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said Russian authorities "at the highest level" have deported "thousands" of children from occupied areas of Ukraine.
Putin's "direct involvement" has been "visible form the outset," it added.