Russia’s Program of Coerced Adoption of Ukraine’s Children

Among the many war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine are large-scale efforts to deport Ukrainian children to Russia. Thousands of children have already been taken to Russian camps and facilities, leading the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for two senior Russian officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, in March 2023. 

Despite the arrest warrants, the deportations have continued. A new report from the Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab identified 314 individual Ukrainian children that Russian officials transferred from Ukraine to Russia for coerced adoption and fostering, acts that likely constitute grave violations of international law. 

What are the report’s key findings? And how might they contribute to efforts toward accountability, including potential new criminal charges against Russian officials? 

Joining the show to discuss the report are Oona Hathaway and Nathaniel Raymond. 

Oona is a Professor at Yale Law School and an Executive Editor at Just Security. Nathaniel is the Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab and a Lecturer in the Department of the Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health. 

Show Notes:  

• Nathaniel Raymond (@nattyray11)
• Oona A. Hathaway (@oonahathaway)
• Paras Shah (@pshah518) 
• Oona’s Just Security article (with Madeline Babin and Isabel Gensler) “New Report Documents Russia’s Systematic Program of Coerced Adoption and Fostering of Ukraine’s Children”
• Just Security’s Russia-Ukraine War coverage
• Just Security’s International Criminal Court coverage
• Just Security’s International Law coverage
• Music: “Broken” by David Bullard from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/david-bullard/broken (License code: OSC7K3LCPSGXISVI)