Displaying 1 - 10 of 150
A teenage orphan who became a posterchild for Moscow's deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia said he was instructed by officials to recite pro-Russian talking points for television cameras and threatened with a beating when he complained about conditions.
Eighteen-year-old Denys Kostev is one of 4,000 orphans and children without parental care who, according to Kyiv, have been unlawfully taken to Russian-controlled territory following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia says it has done nothing unlawful, and it only moved the children to protect them from war.
Reuters…
The most important phone call of Yevhen Mezhevyi’s life came in mid-June of 2022. His anxiety, fear and exhaustion at the time makes him fuzzy about the exact date.
What he does remember is the sound of his son’s voice. Matvii was calling from Russia, where he and his two younger sisters had been forcibly deported nearly a month before — the same morning Mezhevyi, a single father and Ukrainian soldier from Mariupol, had been released without explanation after spending 45 days as a…
Russia’s war on Ukraine is having devastating impacts on children and families. More than 7 million children are affected, having experienced violence, loss of family members, displacement, and disrupted education. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been separated from their families and communities and forcibly transferred to Russian-occupied territories or deported to Russia and Belarus. Some have been placed in Russian foster and adoptive families and given Russian nationality. Many of these children have been transferred to “camps” and other facilities, where Russian officials…
When Russia invaded Ukraine nearly two years ago now, it didn't just take territory. It separated thousands of Ukrainian children from the only home they've ever known, relocating them to Russian-occupied territory or to Russia itself. Most of those children have not returned. Some who have are young adults now, and they're speaking out.
During the 14 months for which Veronika Vlasenko attended school in Russia, she was regularly told by teachers and fellow students that she would never be able to go home to Ukraine. “Every day they said to me that I would be staying here for ever and would never leave Russia,” she said. “They told me that Ukraine doesn’t exist, that it never existed, that we’re all Russians … At times the other kids would beat me for being pro-Ukrainian.”
Veronika was one of nearly…
Ukrainian officials have condemned a new decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in early 2024 simplifying the process of conferring Russian citizenship on Ukrainian children abducted from wartime Ukraine.
Issued on January 4, 2024, the citizenship decree is officially designed to ease the process of granting Russian citizenship to foreign nationals and stateless persons. Officials in Kyiv highlighted one particularly contentious section indicating that orphaned Ukrainian children or those deprived of parental…
Judge Raul Pangalangan International Criminal Court Judge (2015 – 2021)
Ukraine has condemned a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin making it possible to confer Russian citizenship on Ukrainian children moved to Russia.
Last March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin over Russia's policy of forced child deportations.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry called the decree illegal.
However, Russia insists it is moving the children out of harm's way.
On 4 January, Putin signed a…
Abstract
This article analyzes the integration process of children returned from ISIS territory in three regions of the Russian North Caucasus from where the largest number of ISIS fighters with Russian citizenship originated. Following the concepts of “reintegration of returned migrants” and “cultural citizenship”, it explicates the role of key actors in the processes of adaptation and integration of children and their families, as well as analyzes the nature of the barriers they overcome to restore their lost civil status and identity.
The findings demonstrate that…
The significance of efficient social service provision has gained increased attention in war-affected regions following the Russia-Ukraine war conflict. The conventional method of establishing social services is currently facing criticism due to an increasing acknowledgment of the advantages associated with tailored and customised social work interventions, particularly in the context of children and young individuals.
The article explores the notion of deinstitutionalization, emphasising its importance in post-conflict areas and emphasising the value of a personalised social work approach…