Russian occupation authorities have created an online catalogue showing Ukrainian children from Luhansk Oblast, displaying their photos and descriptions of their personalities. Users can even filter the children by eye and hair colour.
Source: Mykola Kuleba, head of the Save Ukraine organisation, which is actively involved in bringing back abducted Ukrainian children
Details: The catalogue is hosted on the website of the so-called Ministry of Education and Science of the LPR [the Luhansk People’s Republic is a self-proclaimed and non-recognised quasi-state formation in Luhansk Oblast; it is supported by Russia and illegally included in its constitution – ed.]. It allows users to “choose” a child for adoption based on their photos with captions describing the child’s personality and hobbies.
Screenshot
“They describe children like merchandise – ‘obedient’, ‘calm’, and so on,” Kuleba said. “Imagine this: you can filter children not just by gender, but even by their eye and hair colour! The way they describe our Ukrainian children is no different from a slave catalogue. This is child trafficking in the 21st century, and the world must act urgently to stop it.”
Most of the children listed in the catalogue were born in Luhansk before Russia’s occupation and held Ukrainian citizenship. Kuleba stressed that some of the children’s parents had been killed by occupation forces, while others had simply been issued Russian documents to legalise their abduction.
“When Russians demand lists of abducted Ukrainian children during negotiations, all we need to do is refer them to the database from their own so-called Luhansk Ministry of Education website. The full evidence of their crimes is right there on their official resources,” Kuleba added.
A Yale University research team has estimated that around 35,000 Ukrainian children are currently missing and believed to be held either in Russia or in occupied territories. Many of them may have been adopted, transferred to military camps, or placed in orphanages.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
From Ukrainska Pravda via this RSS feed