The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine has obtained information about another case of children being taken from the temporarily occupied part of Donetsk region.
According to the FIS, children from one of the region’s orphanages were sent to Russia supposedly for a holiday, but not all of them were returned. At least two children were placed under guardianship by the occupation authorities and taken to Moscow region.
The intelligence service stressed that the occupiers are using an established scheme, involving occupation administrations and Russian guardianship authorities. Children are taken away under the pretext of rehabilitation, cultural or educational events, after which their legal status and place of residence are changed.
The FIS noted that the problem is large-scale in nature. In Russia, there is a system for exploiting children that includes involving them in work at defence industry enterprises, recruitment by the security services, as well as criminal risks, including sex trafficking, human trafficking and illegal organ transplantation.