Putin-controlled aircraft, state funds used to 'Russify' Ukrainian children, alleges US-backed research

Russian presidential aircraft and funds were used in a programme that took children from occupied Ukrainian territories, stripped them of Ukrainian identity and placed them with Russian families, according to a report by Yale’s School of Public Health.

The US State Department-backed research, published on Tuesday, identified 314 Ukrainian children taken to Russia in the early months of the war in Ukraine as part of what it says was a systematic, Kremlin-funded programme to “Russify” them.

Reuters was unable to confirm the report’s findings independently.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his child rights’ commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the alleged war crime of deportation of Ukrainian children.

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At the time, Lvova-Belova said her commission acted on humanitarian grounds to protect children in an area where military action was taking place. Lvova-Belova’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Kremlin said it could not respond to questions sent on Monday, citing a lack of time.

The new report, shared with Reuters, offers details of the alleged deportation programme and individuals involved, including what its lead researcher said were new links to Putin.

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The researcher, Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab, said he was scheduled to present the findings to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday. The United States holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member body this month.

Raymond said the research offers evidence that would support additional charges by the ICC against Putin of “forcible transfer” of people from one national and ethnic group to another.

He further said the report proved “the deportation of Ukraine’s children is part of a systematic, Kremlin-led program” to make them citizens of Russia.

Forcible transfer is a crime against humanity under international law. Because they must be widespread and systematic, crimes against humanity are generally considered more serious than the war crimes Putin is currently charged with for alleged deportation of Ukrainian children.

In response to Reuters questions, the ICC office of the prosecutor said the Yale report was useful “in our continued activities in this case.” It said it could not provide further information about charges or actions that may arise from its investigative activities in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president’s office did not respond to requests for comment. Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said it had no immediate comment.

In response to the ICC charges last year, Lvova-Belova said Russia had not moved anyone against their will or that of their parents or legal guardians, whose consent was always sought unless they were missing.

She said children were placed with temporary legal guardians and were not given up for adoption.

Russia, which does not recognise the ICC, has said the court’s warrants are meaningless. Court decisions could nonetheless limit travel by charged individuals because its 124 member states have an obligation to execute warrants.

Children identified

The research is based on data mined from three Russian government adoption databases over 20 months. Yale’s investigation then mapped out the alleged program’s logistics and funding and confirmed the identities of the 314 children, Raymond said.

The research is part of an initiative led by the State Department under President Joe Biden to document potential violations of international law and crimes against humanity by Russia and Russia-aligned forces in Ukraine.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report said Ukrainian children brought to Russia had been subjected to “pro-state and militarised propaganda,” noting it had documented such “patriotic re-education” at all the facilities where the children were processed.

Reuters has documented the transfer of thousands of children to Russian camps, the forced naturalisation of Ukrainians and the involvement of Belarus in the program.

Stephen Rapp, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes under former president Barack Obama and formerly a prosecutor at the international tribunals for Rwanda and Sierra Leone, reviewed the report and told Reuters that “it proves their direct involvement, making changes to law and practice to allow and accelerate coercive adoptions that would have been illegal under Russia’s own law in February 2022.”

Kyiv estimates around 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since the invasion. Lvova-Belova has challenged Kyiv’s numbers and asked it to provide evidence.

She previously said 380 orphans and children not in the custody of parents were placed with Russian foster families between April and October 2022.

Flights

Russia began taking Ukrainian children from occupied Ukrainian territories in the days before the invasion in Feb. 2022, according to the report.

Russia’s Aerospace Forces and aircraft under the direct control of Putin’s office transported multiple groups of children from Ukraine on Russian Federation-flagged military transport planes between May and October 2022, the report said.

The report said at least two groups of children flew on aircraft managed by the Presidential Property Management Department within the Presidential Administration in May and October 2022.

Children taken to the Chkalovsky military airfield just outside Moscow on Sept. 16, 2022 had been transported from the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk and Luhansk to the Russian city of Rostov, not far from Ukraine’s border, then flown on a plane with tail number RA-85123, the report said.

The aircraft is a TU-154M operated by the 223rd Flight Squad of the Russian Defence Ministry, it said. Flight tracking data on website Flightradar24.com also confirmed this.

Of the 314 Ukrainian children identified, 166 were placed directly with Russia citizens, the report said. The other 148 were listed in Russia’s child placement databases, with about a third of those now placed with Russian citizens. The remaining children were last known to be located at Russian institutions, the report said.