Russian troops abduct 10-year-old orphan in occupied Zaporizhzhia region

Russian occupiers have kidnapped a 10-year-old boy from the occupied city of Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia region. The boy's grandfather-guardian recently passed away.

The Russians are withholding any information about the child from his relatives, Rubryka reports, citing the statement of the mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, on Telegram.

"According to information from residents, the boy named Vadym was left with relatives after the recent death of his grandfather, who had been taking care of him. Subsequently, the occupiers took the child to Melitopol. Despite the family's attempts to reach out, there has been no response. The occupation authorities are not providing any information about the child," Fedorov said.

Fedorov specified that the child was taken by the occupation "social services." 

He recalled that, according to the data from the Russian-created "Ministry of Social Policy of the Zaporizhzhia region," the occupiers found new "guardians" for 223 children over the past year.

Currently, Russia has deported over 4,500 orphans and children without parental care.

Deportation of Ukrainian children

As of November 10, Ukraine confirmed the illegal abduction of 19,546 children.

On March 17, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's authorized representative for children, Maria Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of illegally deporting Ukrainian children from the occupied territories to Russia.

In July 2023, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office initiated an investigation into the involvement of the Belarusian Red Cross in the deportation of Ukrainian children.

386 Ukrainian children, unlawfully taken from temporarily occupied territories, have already been adopted in the Russian Federation.

As reported by Rubryka, representatives of Canada proposed during a meeting of national security and foreign policy advisers to create a coalition of countries to facilitate the return of deported Ukrainian children.