Law enforcement officials have identified the organizers of the deportation of 53 Ukrainian children to Russia

Ukrainian law enforcement officials have identified four officials involved in the illegal deportation of 53 Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied cities of Donetsk and Makiivka to Russia.

This was reportedby Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.

The case involves children from three orphanages who were taken from the occupied territory in October 2022. According to the investigation, this was not an evacuation but a planned deportation organized with the participation of representatives of the occupying authorities.

Directly in the occupied territory, those involved in the removal of the children included the so-called “DPR” Minister of Health, Dmytro Hartsev; the head of the occupying “State Service for Family and Children’s Affairs,” Svitlana Maiboroda, as well as the directors of the children’s homes, Vyacheslav Vysyagin and Viktor Goncharov.

According to the investigation, Gartsev handled the administrative procedures for the deportation. Maiboroda coordinated transportation, the transfer of the children’s personal files, and their subsequent placement. Vysyagin and Goncharov organized the gathering of the children and personally accompanied them during their removal.

The children were first taken by bus to Rostov-on-Don. From there, they were flown by a special“Rossiya” flight unit to the Moscow Region and distributed among social centers.

Upon arrival, Russian authorities began processing the children in accordance with Russian legislation. They were granted Russian citizenship, their data was entered into the state database, and they were prepared for placement with Russian families.

The children’sprofiles also appeared on a Russian adoption portal. According to the investigation, 28 children were placed in the care of Russian citizens.

To date, none of the children from this group have returned to Ukraine.

According to the investigation, after their deportation, the children effectively found themselves in a Russian educational, informational, and cultural environment. In this way, the occupying authorities are attempting to sever their ties with Ukraine and impose a Russian identity on them.

Dmytro Hartsev, Svitlana Maiboroda, Vyacheslav Vysyagin, and Viktor Goncharov were notified in absentia that they are suspected of violating the laws and customs of war, committed by a group of individuals acting in concert.

According to the investigation, law enforcement officials documented their decisions and orders, the meetings they held, the transfer of documents, and the route of the children’s deportation.

Андрій Колісніченко