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The European Union has imposed new sanctions on 16 individuals and seven institutions for their role in Russia's forced deportation of Ukrainian children. Nearly 20,500 children are estimated to have been unlawfully transferred to Russia since the war began in 2022. The abductions of the children are structurally done by Russia with the aim of erasing their Ukrainian identity through indoctrination and forced adoption.
EU foreign ministers have imposed new sanctions on 16 individuals and seven institutions involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children. This is because these actions seriously violate international law and fundamental children's rights. So say the ministers in a joint communiqué. The abductions are designed to erase Ukrainian identity and undermine future Ukrainian generations. The European sanctions freeze their assets in the EU and prohibit EU citizens and companies from supporting them financially. The 16 individuals are also banned from entering and crossing the EU.
Russia is deporting children from occupied territories to erase their Ukrainian identity. They do this through programs full of pro-Russian propaganda, patriotic events and military training. These programs are often organized by federal state institutions affiliated with the Russian Ministry of Education.
On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's commissioner for children's rights. Both are held responsible for war crimes. They are accused of the unlawful deportation and transfer of (mostly) Ukrainian children from occupied territories to Russia, starting, at least, from February 24, 2022. This falls under Articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute, specifically unlawful deportation and transfer of the population (children). The ICC does not explicitly qualify this as genocide, but as serious violations of children's rights and international humanitarian law. To date, only about 2,100 children have returned from Russia. Tens of thousands remain missing or detained.
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