On Return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported by Russia

on Return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported by Russia

B100249/2025

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on Return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported by Russia

(2025/2691(RSP))

The European Parliament,

having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukraine and Russia,

– having regard to Rule 150 of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas since 2022 Russia has forcibly transferred over 19,000 children from Ukraine to Russia in complete violation of international law; whereas the actual number of children remaining in Russia is likely higher, with the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab estimating a figure as high as 35,000 as of March 2025;

whereas President Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Lvova-Belova were indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the unlawful transfer of children; whereas Article 6(e) of the Rome Statute proscribes the forcible transfer of children from one national group to another as genocide;

whereas Russia targeted vulnerable groups of children for deportation, including orphans and children from low-income families; whereas Ukrainian human rights activists uncovered Kremlin documents dated prior to the full-scale invasion which laid out plans to remove Ukrainian children and bring them to Russia under the guise of “humanitarian evacuations”;

whereas Putin signed a decree in May 2022 providing a simplified procedure for the acquisition of Russian citizenship for Ukrainian children; whereas many of the deported children are forced to endure “re-education” facilities, meant to instil pro-Russian sentiments though “military-patriotic” training while others have been forcibly adopted into Russian families; whereas Russia opened a cadet school for abducted Ukrainian children, creating a direct pipeline into the federal security forces;

whereas the US State Department has paused funding for the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, with its massive data repository expected to be transferred to Europol and the future of its funding unclear;

Condemns in the strongest terms the abduction, re-education, and illegal adoption of Ukrainian children by the Russian authorities and considers that these actions may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity; demands the immediate return of all deported children to Ukrainian-held territories in Ukraine;

Calls on the EU and Member States to use all tools at their disposal to pressure Russia into returning all children concerned and enable the prosecution of this crime in line with international law; calls on Member States to invigorate multilateral advocacy efforts, including through a UNGA resolution on the issue;

Reiterates its support for the ICC arrest warrant for Putin and Lvova-Belova and calls on all the Rome Statute signatories to implement it; calls on the Commission to urgently activate the Blocking Statute and on the Member States to increase their diplomatic efforts in order to protect and safeguard the ICC as an indispensable cornerstone of the international justice system;

Regrets the pausing of US federal funds for Yale Humanitarian Research Lab’s renowned investigation into the deportation of Ukrainian children and calls on the EU and Member States to ensure this crucial research and data collection continues;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the VP/HR, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President and Parliament of Ukraine, and the Russian authorities.