Children: the crime with a warrant for the head of state

Since 2022 Russia has moved Ukrainian children from occupied territory into camps, foster families and adoption inside Russia, issued them passports and, in most cases, told their relatives nothing. Ukraine has recorded 20,651 cases and brought 2,665 children home. The ICC issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and his children's commissioner in March 2023; in March 2026 the UN Commission of Inquiry found the deportations to be crimes against humanity.

Unlawful deportation and transfer of children — established (ICC warrants, 17 Mar 2023; COI; ECtHR) Camps, re-education, passports, adoption — pattern (COI; OSCE; Yale HRL) Genocide, Art. 442 CCU / Art. II(e) Genocide Convention — position (Ukraine)

Russia said. Dmitry Peskov · Kremlin spokesman · 17 Mar 2023: “Any decisions of this kind are null and void for the Russian Federation from the point of view of law.” — Binding on 125 states parties regardless. The warrants oblige every Rome Statute state party to arrest the suspects on its territory; the Court's jurisdiction rests on Ukraine's declarations and, since 1 Jan 2025, its membership. Russia's non-recognition does not touch third states' obligations.

Evidence held: ICC, 17 Mar 2023; Commission of Inquiry; Ombudsman's Office, 7 Oct 2026; Bring Kids Back UA (Maksym Maksymov), 21 Sep 2026.

Photo & video · 2 photos

"Bring Ukrainian children back!" — demonstration in Berlin, 24 Aug 2025

Roy Zuo · 2025-08-24 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original ↗

SHA-256 991adeff11f24fec… · 494 KB

Russia's own photograph: "about 1,500 children" from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions arrive in Yevpatoria, occupied Crimea, for "rest and recovery", 2022

Управление информационной политики Мининформ РК · 2022-10-08 · CC BY 4.0 · original ↗

SHA-256 fe9ab243400216b1… · 326 KB

Download pack (ZIP · 2 files)Openly licensed official material only; videos are linked to the official post. No image shows the dead; images of graphic aftermath are blurred until tapped and marked sensitive in the pack. This is not an evidence repository: originals are held by the Prosecutor General (warcrimes.gov.ua) and the ICC OTP.