ZMINA speaks at Bundestag about returning Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia home

On September 7, the Bundestag hosted a discussion dedicated to deepening Ukraine–Germany cooperation in returning Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia home. ZMINA’s legal analyst Onysiia Syniuk joined the event. 

The discussion was organized by a group of German MPs with the assistance of the Embassy of Ukraine in Germany and the German–Ukrainian parliamentary group. The idea of the event was proposed by Khrystyna Daniuk, Yana Melnychenko and Uliana Hnatyshyn, the Ukrainian holders of the International Parliamentary Scholarships. 

The event brought together representatives of the political community and civil society of Ukraine and Germany who pointed out the importance of speaking about the deportation of Ukrainian children at the German level. They also underscored the need to cooperate with various countries in condemning violations of children’s rights, holding those who committed war crimes to account, and returning Ukrainian children home. 

Onysiia Syniuk joined the panel discussion on the role of civil society in documenting and investigating war crimes, as well as efforts to return deported children. She drew attention to the facts confirming that Russia’s actions towards Ukrainian children are not evacuation but have signs of deportation. 

In addition, Syniuk emphasized that Russian state policy included education according to the Russian curricula, militarization, change of citizenship and the transfer of Ukrainian children to Russian families, as well as the fact that Russia did not properly search for the relatives of kidnapped Ukrainian children. These facts indicate the intention to sever the connection of children with Ukraine, prevent their return home and transfer these children from one national group to another which is a sign of the crime of genocide.