On April 16-17, Europol, jointly with the Netherlands, conducted a coordinated operation to identify and establish the whereabouts of children forcibly transferred or deported to temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. Information was obtained about 45 Ukrainian children, as well as individuals involved in their deportation.
The event took place in The Hague. It involved 40 experts from 18 countries, as well as representatives of the International Criminal Court and non-governmental organizations. Based on open sources, specialists prepared 45 reports containing valuable information potentially indicating the whereabouts of deported children, including:
- transport routes used for the forced transfer;
- individuals who facilitated the deportation, such as directors of orphanages;
- military units involved in the deportations;
- individuals who received the deported children;
- camps or institutions where the children were taken;
- platforms containing photographs of allegedly deported children;
- Russian military units in which deported children may currently be participating in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Europol provided the venue for the event and also ensured coordination and technical support for open-source intelligence experts.
The forced transfer or deportation of children from their places of permanent residence may constitute a war crime, Europol stressed.
“The multinational initiative aims to support the ongoing investigations of the Ukrainian authorities, who have documented the forced transfer or deportation of an estimated more than 19,500 children from occupied territories to Russia or Belarus. Some of these children have been adopted by Russian citizens, while others are being held in ‘re-education’ camps or psychiatric institutions”, the Europol press release said.
The issue of the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus is being addressed by Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet and Head of the National Anti-Crisis Management, and the National Anti-Crisis Management. Latushka’s team has managed to gather evidence that more than 3,500 Ukrainian children were forcibly transferred through or to the territory of Belarus. The relevant materials have been submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
