Children were taken to Russia under the guise of “rehabilitation”: SBU identifies new suspects

The SBU has reported suspicions to two representatives of the occupation administration, whom the investigation considers to be involved in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. These are the so-called head of the Donetsk occupation administration, Oleksiy Kulemzin, and the head of the “family and children’s department” Olena Verbovska.

This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General’s Office.

According to the case materials, Kulemzin and Verbovskaya participated in organizing the deportation of children to the Polyany boarding house near Moscow, which is part of the structure of the Russian President’s Administration. The deportation was formalized under the pretext of “rehabilitation” in accordance with the so-called “resolution No. 84” signed by Denis Pushilin.

As the investigation established, in total, at least 31 Ukrainian children were forcibly taken to Russia as part of this scheme — 16 boys and 15 girls.

In particular, 22 children were deported from the temporarily occupied Mariupol district. Three of them were taken from their biological father, who was later imprisoned in the Olenivka penal colony. Another nine children were forcibly taken from social centers in Shakhtarsk and Khartsyzsk.

Some of the deported children were placed under the care of Russian citizens. Among them was a child from Mariupol who was forcibly handed over to the Russian President’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.

The SBU had previously reported Pushylin’s “counselor” Eleonora Fedorenko and the former head of the “service for family and children of the DPR” Svitlana Maiboroda on suspicion of war crimes. According to the investigation, they were also involved in implementing the decision to take Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation.

Currently, Kulemzin and Verbovska have been notified of suspicion in absentia. Both are hiding in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, so law enforcement officers are taking measures to bring them to justice.

As reported, Norway will allocate an additional 25 million kroner (2.3 million euros) for humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians affected by Russian aggression. The funds will be directed to support children abducted by Russia, civilian prisoners and prisoners of war.

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