Russia to make stolen kids available for adoption online
During their war against Ukraine, Russia is seizing and stealing whatever they can get their hands on. It seems that they are even brazenly kidnapping numerous children as well. Rumors suggest that some of these kids are now being put up for adoption on Russian websites. US security advisor Sullivan calls this act "disgusting and abominable."
The United States has credible reports that Ukrainian children who have been abducted are being offered for adoption in Russia. National security advisor Jake Sullivan deems this "disgusting and abominable."
The "Financial Times" previously reported on these stolen kids, who would be made available for adoption in Russia. In their story, they found four Ukrainian children on a Russian adoption website. For one of the kids, a fake identity was shown - a Russian name and a false age. None of the children mentioned they were from Ukraine.
As per the "Financial Times," the children were taken from state orphanages and separated from their caretakers and family members when numerous cities in southern and eastern Ukraine fell under Russian control in 2022. The children, aged 8 to 15, were in the Russian regions of Tula near Moscow and Orenburg, which borders Kazakhstan. One of the children was taken to the occupied Crimean Peninsula. Seventeen other Ukrainian children on the adoption website were identified by the "New York Times" in a recent investigation and are said to have come from an orphanage in Kherson.
Around 20,000 Ukrainian kids now in Russia
Ukraine estimates that Russia has kidnapped almost 20,000 children during the war, but only a few hundred have been returned. The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued a warrant for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his so-called children's rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, in 2023 for this reason. The Kremlin denies the allegations.
On the other hand, Moscow states that they have "brought more than 700,000 Ukrainian children to safety" since July of the previous year, when the large-scale invasion began. The majority of these kids are said to have arrived with their parents or relatives.
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US Secretary of State Blinken strongly condemns Russia's actions, labeling the online adoption of Ukrainian children as "a flagrant violation of international law." The adoption pages, allegedly hosting these children, have become a subject of intense scrutiny by the global community.
