European Court of Human Rights hears case on Ukrainian children taken to Russia after Crimea annexation

On Tuesday the European Court of Human Rights heard arguments concerning ten children who were in institutions on the Crimean peninsula at the time of Russia’s 2014 annexation. Serhij Sajets of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union for Human Rights said the children, then between one and five years old, were compelled to acquire Russian citizenship and were entered into adoption registries, with many later placed in Russian homes or facilities.

Ukrainian officials who previously held guardianship repeatedly asked Russia to return the children, but transfers continued, especially after the large-scale invasion in February 2022. Camilla Alonzo noted that only one adoption profile remains online, suggesting the others have already been adopted. She urged the Strasbourg court to hold Russia accountable for breaching Articles 5 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court will issue its judgment in the coming months; while any conviction would be largely symbolic, it highlights ongoing disputes over the treatment of Ukrainian minors.