Analyst Reveals Russia's Methods for Abducting Ukrainian Children: From Filtration Camps to Adoption

Analyst and humanitarian worker Patrick Fors told Jauns.lv that Russia employed several methods to abduct Ukrainian children. Initial evidence indicated 11,000 abducted children in non-occupied territories, but from mid-March to December 2022 the number grew to 17,000, of whom over 12,000 were orphans.

Russian forces used various patterns: forcibly separating children from parents at front lines, abducting infants in Mariupol filtration camps, conducting "militarized" raids on orphanages in the east, and arresting children near schools up to 50 km from occupied territories. These arrests were often carried out by civilian teams paid by the FSB.

After abduction, children were sent to so-called "health camps" opened by Maria Lvova-Belova. There they underwent intellectual and physical tests, and the most capable were recruited by the FSB. Children were sent to eight types of facilities, including foster families and integration camps where "psychologists" instilled a sense of belonging to Russia. Children over 13 were sent to military-patriotic camps where they were trained to fight against Ukraine.

In May 2022, Putin simplified the adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia. After filtration camps lasting up to three months, the youngest and healthiest were often adopted by Russian families receiving monthly benefits of about 173 euros per child. Cases of abuse and families adopting seven or eight children for higher benefits were documented. For example, politician Sergey Mironov and his wife adopted Margarita (10 months) and Ilya (2 years); they abandoned Ilya due to illness, and the girl's identity was erased.

In occupied territories, children are taken from families through blackmail and sent to "free summer camps" in Crimea from which they never return. An estimated 200,000 children have been separated from families, and the total number of deportees including guardians is about 2 million. Russia aims to assimilate Ukrainians to counter its demographic decline.

Fors recounted an episode near Kramatorsk in summer 2022 where after a missile strike, children and staff vanished from a complex for children with mental disabilities; blood traces were found but no bodies. He noted a rise in organ sales in Iran and new startups in Belarus, but no direct evidence.

The evidence was submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which in March 2023 issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for crimes against humanity.