60 investigators from 23 nations search for eight Ukrainian children abducted by Russia

International detectives searched for eight Ukrainian children whom the Russian invaders took from the occupied territories; about 60 investigators from 23 countries were involved.

AD writes about it.

What is the problem?

Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression, the soldiers of the enemy army have been taking Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation and the territories under their control. The Ukrainians created a map of the camps to which children were sent.

In addition, the national resistance reports that the Russian occupiers are detaining children in the temporarily occupied territories to put pressure on their parents.

It is also known that the Russians are recruiting Crimean schoolchildren to "Unarmy" [a Russian children's and youth military organization established under the Russian Ministry of Defense – ed.]

As reported by Ombudsman Lubinets, the deportation of more than 19,500 Ukrainian children has been officially confirmed.

Russia is reluctant to make contact regarding the return of deported children to Ukraine; besides, there are known cases of small Ukrainians being adopted by Russian families, even though their relatives are waiting for them at home.

What is the solution?

Ukraine and Canada launched the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children from Russia and the temporarily occupied territories.

As reported, the coalition:

• will reveal the whereabouts of illegally deported and forcibly displaced children,
• will develop return mechanisms,
• will be a participant in diplomatic negotiations.

To date, eight Ukrainian children who were taken away from the occupied territories by the Russian invaders have been searched by international detectives; for this, about 60 investigators from 23 countries were involved.

The operation was carried out at the initiative of the Dutch police and Europol.

"This was the first time that international experts cooperated to find information about child abductions in Ukraine," says Vincent Cillessen, head of the International Crimes Unit of the Dutch police.

How does it work?

It is said that investigators from Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, the USA, as well as six non-governmental organizations participated in the search for kidnapped Ukrainian children.

Children were searched with the help of:

• satellite images,
• facial recognition systems,
• geolocation,
• other methods.

Also, experts searched for information in open online sources to determine the children's whereabouts. Like:

• used advanced facial recognition to find recent images of children,
• and specialists were able to indicate the geolocations where they were photographed.

Detectives also established that the kidnapped children were orphans. They were forcibly taken to the territories occupied by Russia and were also used for propaganda purposes.

Information about the children was handed over to the Ukrainian authorities.

For reference:

On January 4, Vladimir Putin, the Russian dictator, issued an order which grants Russian citizenship to Ukrainian children. This will ensure that the deported Ukrainian children "do not legally remain in the Russian Federation."

Recently three families with four children got out of the temporarily occupied territory. This happened thanks to the Save Ukraine organization.

Read also –

"As the saying goes, if you save one person, you will save the entire world": how Ukrainians adopt children during the war

Deported Future: how Ukraine returns children forcibly deported to the Russian Federation