Davos discussed the consequences of Russian deportation by Ukrainian children

Dariya Zarivna stressed that the abduction of Ukrainian children is part of the Russian strategy for the destruction of Ukrainians as a nation. “The children whose Russia is now in the temporarily occupied territories are subjected to brain washing, they are forced to forget their roots. Children are forbidden to communicate in their native language, arrange them to Russian families and boarding schools, and then use for propaganda and military purposes.

Russia perceives them as an additional mobilization resource and turns into weapons against their homeland, ”she said. In particular, during the discussion they discussed that Russia creates in temporarily occupied territories of "hatred factories", where children are forced to wear a military uniform, join paramilitarian organizations and glorify the Russian army.

The director of the Institute of Human Rights of the International Association of Baroness Helen Kennedy, who is the co -chair of the Bring Kids Back UA working group together with Presidential Office Andriy Yermak's office, noted that, according to the rules of international humanitarian law, deportation of children is a military crime. “Russia turns deported children into weapons.

The Russians teach them to think that they are also Russians, that their past is a lie, and the future is related to the Russian Federation, ”Helen Kennedy said. Within the initiative of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky Bring Kids Back UA, which started in May 2023, 1037 children have already been returned. In particular, only last year did Ukraine return 449 of its young citizens home.

  The founder of the NGO Save Ukraine Mykola Kuleba noted that it is extremely difficult to return children. That is why Ukraine needs support for international partners.   The Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Laboratory of Yale, Professor Nathaniel Raymond, noted that it is important to document Russia's crimes to hold the perpetrators responsible. He recalled the facts covered in a recently published laboratory study.

  “Analysts tracked the routes of aircraft that Russia exported children from the territory of Ukraine and identified the key locations included in this process. The deportation of Ukrainian children is a systematic policy of Russia, which is involved in the planning of Russian officials from the highest levels of government, ”he said.