The deportation of minors is considered a war crime. During his research, ZDF reporter Arndt Ginzel came across, among other things, 15 children who were abducted by Russians and who managed to escape from Russia. They tell us their story.
With his experience reports and forensic methods, Arndt Ginzel reconstructs the fate of the children and many other Ukrainian families. For example, Russian television showed pictures of children who were granted Russian citizenship. With the help of facial recognition software, the ZDF author can prove that these are actually missing Ukrainian children.
The Russian President's Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, is responsible for abduction the children. In the Russian media, she explained that they wanted to take the children away from the Ukrainian regime. The UN estimates that over 1,800 children and young people have been kidnapped from Ukraine to Russia. Ukraine itself expects more than 15,000 kidnapped minors.
According to the UN, the deportation of children is a war crime. The Russian war of aggression tore Ukrainian families apart, parents were killed, children were orphaned. Kidnapping and forced adoption are now robbing the children and young people of their homes and their identities.
