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Europol Sleuths Trace 45 Ukrainian Children Forcibly Taken to Russia
Published 9 hours ago • loading... • Updated 1 hour agoThe two-day Europol operation brought together 40 experts from 18 countries and produced 45 reports to help locate children and identify transfer networks.On Monday, Europol announced that investigators traced 45 Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia during an open-source intelligence operation conducted last week.Following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, tens of thousands of Ukrainian children were forcibly deported to the Russian Federation, prompting a United Nations commission to recently accuse Moscow of committing "crimes against humanity."Investigators from 18 countries gathered in The Hague last week using digital tools to identify the children's whereabouts; some are held in re-education camps or psychiatric hospitals, while others were adopted by Russian nationals, Europol said.The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, for alleged war crimes involving the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine.Ukraine works with international partners including Qatar and the Vatican to bring deported children home, with Maksym Maksymov of Bring Kids Back Ukraine stating that "sustained cooperation is essential" to address the scale of violations.Insights by Ground AI Podcasts & OpinionsWar in Ukraine: 45 Ukrainian Children Forcibly Transferred by EuropolAs a result of an investigation based on public sources of information (OSINT), Europol has found a record of some 40 Ukrainian children who have been forcibly displaced since the beginning of the attack on Russia. This information has been transmitted to Kiev, says the European Police Agency. - War in Ukraine: 45 Ukrainian children forcibly transferred from Europol (International).Think freely.Subscribe and get full access to Ground NewsSubscriptions start at $9.99/yearSubscribeMalware Analysis, News and Indicators broke the news 9 hours ago on Monday, April 20, 2026.Too Big Arrow IconSources are mostly out of (0)
Europol and partners trace 45 'forcibly transferred' Ukrainian children ...
Agency says it shared information about children moved to Russia, Belarus or occupied Ukrainian territory with Ukraine’s authorities.The European Union’s law enforcement agency says investigators have traced 45 Ukrainian children forcibly transferred to Russia, Belarus or occupied Ukrainian territory during the Russia-Ukraine war.In a statement on Monday, Europol said details uncovered about the children were passed over to Ukrainian authorities to support their ongoing investigations.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Russian attacks on Ukraine kill 16 people, including a childlist 2 of 4‘Sent to be killed’: How Russia forces migrants to fight in Ukrainelist 3 of 4Ukraine’s long-range strikes prompt new Russian threat against Europelist 4 of 4Ukraine claims attack on Russian warships in occupied Crimeaend of listInformation about the children was discovered using publicly available information known as OSINT (open-source intelligence) during a two-day “hackathon” that saw 40 experts from 18 countries, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and non-governmental partners joining forces in The Hague, the Netherlands.Kyiv has identified 19,546 children who it says were forcibly taken from occupied Ukrainian regions since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbouring country in February 2022.“Some of these children have been adopted by Russian nationals, while others are being held in re-education camps or psychiatric hospitals,” Europol said.The list could be far from final, as Ukrainian officials believe that some children lost their parents during the hostilities and cannot get in touch with their relatives in Ukraine.Last month, a United Nations international commission of inquiry accused Moscow of committing “crimes against humanity” by forcibly deporting thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia and obstructing their return.The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for alleged war crimes involving the unlawful deportation and transfer of children, allegations denied by Moscow, which says it has been evacuating people voluntarily from a warzone.Russia maintains that it transferred Ukrainian children from captured areas for their own safety and is prepared to return them to their families under conditions it deems appropriate.The issue is highly sensitive in Ukraine and remains central to every new round of negotiations for a potential peace agree...
Europol and partners track down 45 forcibly transferred Ukrainian children
On 16 and 17 April 2026, Europol together with the Netherlands hosted a coordinated effort to identify and trace children forcibly transferred or deported to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. In total, information about 45 children was uncovered and shared with Ukrainian authorities to assist their ongoing investigations.
Europol 'hackathon' sleuths trace 45 Ukrainian children forcibly ...
Dozens of sleuths have traced 45 Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia during an open-source investigative blitz hosted by Europol, it said on Monday. The Europol effort saw 40 investigators from 18 countries gather in The Hague for two days last week to use publicly available information ...

