According to the report on the activities of the government of the Rostov region for 2022, 1184 Ukrainian children were transferred to Russian families, writes "Important stories". The document notes that they arrived "from the territories of Donbass and Ukraine" "without legal representatives."
Earlier, Maria Lvova, Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Russian Federation, stated that 380 Ukrainian children were placed in Russian families. What was the status of these children is not reported. Perhaps, as the publication writes, these are either children who lost their parents after the start of the war, or pupils of orphanages. In addition, it is possible that some of the children entered the region of the Russian Federation with their Russian relatives, who also needed to arrange temporary custody of them.
Temporary guardianship is valid for a maximum of eight months, after which permanent guardianship must be established. Therefore, Important Stories notes that it is not known how many of these children ended up with families.
At the same time, the report of the Ministry of Education of the Rostov Region states that in 2022 only 534 children were placed under guardianship. The publication suggests that the rest were simply sent to other regions.
It is noted that it is very difficult to establish the whereabouts of children, as well as how many of them are orphans and how many are under the care of relatives. But through an open source, it was possible to find out where 290 Ukrainian children are.
On March 17, 2023, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova are responsible for the deportation of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia. This action is regarded as a war crime, and a warrant has been issued for the arrest of those suspected of committing it.