The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said that for the first time, the fact of changing the name and surname of a Ukrainian child "adopted" by Russians was recorded. This is stated in Lubinets' post on social media.
The child in question is 10-month-old Marharyta Prokopenko, who was in an orphanage in Kherson during the Russian army's occupation of the city.
"She was taken to Russia from there, allegedly for 'examinations and rehabilitation'. Media reports say that later the girl's name and citizenship were changed! Thus, Marharyta became "Marina Mironova"! It is also known that a two-year-old boy, Ilya Vashchenko, was probably taken together with the girl. His fate is not yet known," Lubinets said about Marharyta's "adoption" by Russian politician Sergei Mironov.
The Ombudsman said that he had been approached by the guardian of Marharyta's sister.
"The woman asked for assistance in establishing Marharyta's whereabouts and registering guardianship over her. I should note that Margarita has a six-year-old sister and a three-year-old brother. The six-year-old sister lives with a guardian, but the fate of Marharyta's brother is unknown. He was in Kherson as well. That is, the siblings were separated by the Russians," Lubinets said.
He stressed that the adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia is illegal. According to international and national norms, in order for foreigners to adopt a Ukrainian child, they need to notify Ukraine and obtain consent for the adoption.
The Ombudsman added that he would address Ukrainian partners and international organisations in this case to condemn the actions of forced removal and adoption of Ukrainian children and recognise it as a crime of genocide, as well as to facilitate the return of children from Ukraine.
Earlier, Russian media have described in detail the procedure by which Russian Mironov and his wife abducted and "adopted" Ukrainian Marharyta.
Recently, the PACE Bureau approved the composition of a special committee that will study the situation of children in Ukraine. In particular, this committee will work on the issue of child abduction by Russia.
Meanwhile, the occupiers have come up with another way to abduct young Ukrainians. In the TOT, the racists intend to pay parents 15,000 rubles a year under two conditions: that the child be a citizen of the Russian Federation and that they attend an occupation school.