Children from Ukrainian orphanges sent for adoption by Russian families : Shared by John Gilmartin

Bad news is just pouring lately. ISW continues to cover the treatment of children captured/taken from Ukraine in the current phase of the war.
John

Ukrainian Children taken for adoption in Russia

Institute for the Study of War, January 15, 2026

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A Russian occupation official confirmed that several Ukrainian children, including some with severe disabilities, whom Russian authorities forcibly transferred from occupied Kherson Oblast to Crimea have been adopted by families in Crimea.

Kherson Oblast occupation senator Konstantin Basyuk reported on January 12 that the Yolochka orphanage in occupied Simferopol accepted 47 children from the Kherson Children's Home in 2022, and that 42 of these children have been placed with new families as of January 2026, with five remaining at Yolochka. 

A New York Times investigation from June 2024 found that a broad network of Russian politicians and officials was involved in the forced removal of 46 children from the Kherson Children's Home to Yolochka, and that several of the children were not orphans but had been placed into care by their parents who felt unequipped to handle their children's disabilities. 

Russian authorities have changed the children's names to obfuscate their identities and make it more difficult for Ukraine to identify them. The Russian Orthodox Church and Rosgvardia continue sponsoring propaganda trips for Ukrainian children to visit Russia, with the Russian Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives providing support. 

The Russian Ministry of Culture reported that the "Cultural Map 4+85" program has brought over 9,000 children from occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts to visit various Russian regions since 2023. Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets noted that Cultural Map 4+85 is intended to eradicate the identity of Ukrainian children by forcibly exposing them to Russian cultural ideals and historical narratives.

Quotes:

"ISW differentiates between forced deportation and forced transfer in accordance with international law, which defines deportation as the forced movement of people outside of national borders and removal as the forced movement of people within national borders. The Yolochka orphanage case constitutes an instance of forced transfer of children, as Russia forcibly moved children around within Ukraine's internationally recognized borders."

"Russian authorities have gone to great lengths to obfuscate the identities of the children at Yolochka, including by changing their names, indicating an intent to make it more difficult for Ukraine to identify the children."