Russia Continues to Remove Ukrainian Children and Integrate Them in Russia : Shared by John Gilmartin

Russian Occupation Update, July 31 2025

Institute for the Study of War 

Click here for the article

See also ISW's  Putin is Still Stealing Ukrainian Children

Summary

In addition to previously reported deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia under various summer‑camp and adoption programs, the updated July 31 ISW briefing confirms Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) has infiltrated Crimean administrative servers and retrieved records detailing names, relocations, and guardian assignments for children moved after 2022. 

Officially confirmed deportee figures now stand at 19,546, though independent estimates from Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab place the true number closer to 35,000. Additional new details show children from Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk born between 2008 and 2016 are enrolled in schools in occupied Crimea—suggesting forced relocation beyond temporary camps. 

These documented actions reinforce ISW’s assessment that Russia’s policy is systematic, intentional, and likely qualifies as genocide under international law, given the forced removal of children of one group into another.

Quotes

“Ukrainian military intelligence obtained additional evidence confirming the scale of Russia’s forced removal and deportation of Ukrainian children.”

“It found evidence that Russia has illegally appointed new guardians to Ukrainian children and resettled them in Russia with adopted families.”

::contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}