Kharkiv police document over 500 cases of children’s deportation by Russia

The deportation of more than half a thousand children from Kharkiv region during the Russian occupation is being investigated by Ukrainian law enforcement. All evidence collected is being forwarded to the International Criminal Court.

This was reported to journalists by the deputy chief of the National Police Department in Kharkiv region, Serhiy Bolvinov, an Ukrinform correspondent wrote.

"We are talking about more than 500 children who were removed from Kharkiv region," said Bolvinov.

According to the police official, some of the Ukrainian children deported by Russia were eventually brought back to Ukrainian-controlled territory, some returned to the temporarily occupied territories, but there are also children who still remain in the Russian Federation. The law enforcement has not named the exact numbers.

Russians removed children from Balaklia, Izium, Vovchansk, Kupiansk, and other settlements during the occupation period.

As reported, in March, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Putin and the Russian President's Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. Both are suspected of war crimes – deportation and illegal transfer of the population, including children, from the occupied territory of Ukraine.

According to a Yale University study, more than 2,400 Ukrainian children have been deported to Belarus.