Putin is separating Ukrainian children from their parents and coercing, or forcing, their parents to relocate inside Russia in a systematic “filtration” operation, according to US Secretary of State Tony Blinken. In a serious breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians, Russia is unlawfully transferring and deporting protected persons. It is a “war crime.” On the day before the Ukraine Accountability Conference on July 14, Blinken announced the United States will hold President Putin and his government accountable for the unlawful transfer and forced deportations in Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine. “Russian authorities must release those detained and allow Ukrainian citizens forcibly removed or coerced into leaving their country the ability to promptly and safely return home,” says Blinken.
The US Government is calling for Russia to provide outside independent observers access to the “filtration” facilities and to forced deportation relocation areas in Russia. The numbers involved are staggering. Sources estimate that they total between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens. Over 260,000 are young victims of Putin’s policy, that often sends them to isolated regions in the Far East. Families are not kept together, according to the policy.
Military analysts familiar with the operation note that it is pre-meditated and resembles Russian actions during its war in Chechnya. The “filtration” operation is well-organized. Putin’s foot soldiers first separate families. They then confiscate the Ukrainian citizens’ passports and issue the victims Russian papers. One demographer suggested that this effort was in part due to Putin’s desire to change the demographic makeup of Ukraine. The “filtration” extends to abductions of children living in orphanages inside Ukraine, where there are seized and put up for adoption inside Russia.
Eyewitnesses and survivors of “filtration” operations, detentions, and forced deportations report frequent threats, harassment, and incidents of torture by Russian security forces, according to Blinken.” During this process, Russian authorities also reportedly capture and store biometric and personal data, subject civilians to invasive searches and interrogations and coerce Ukrainian citizens into signing agreements to stay in Russia, hindering their ability to freely return home,” he adds.
Worse yet, according to the State Department, is mounting evidence that Russian authorities are detaining or disappearing thousands of Ukrainian civilians who do not pass “filtration” tests. Those detained or “filtered out” include Ukrainians deemed threatening because of their potential affiliation with the Ukrainian army, territorial defense forces, media, government, and civil society groups.
Ukraine’s General Prosecutor, along with eyewitnesses and other survivors, have reported that Russian authorities recently transported tens of thousands of people to detention facilities inside Russian-controlled Donetsk, where many are reportedly tortured. Reports coming in from the region charge that many of the targeted individuals have been summarily executed. The evidence, notes a State Department official, is consistent with Russian atrocities committed in Bucha, Mariupol, and other locations inside Ukraine. Blinken said President Putin and his government will not be able to engage in these systematic abuses with impunity. “Accountability is imperative. This is why we are supporting Ukrainian and international authorities’ efforts to collect, document, and preserve evidence of atrocities. Together, we are dedicated to holding perpetrators of war crimes and other atrocities accountable.” The situation is complex and disorganized as the war moves into its sixth month. The United Nations reports that a full two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have been forced from their homes by the war. Tens of thousands of those children already were in Ukrainian institutions without a stable home life. Their fate is in more jeopardy now.
Speaking in June before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said her office has been looking into allegations of children forcibly deported from Ukraine to the Russian Federation. She told the Council: “we are concerned about the alleged plans of the Russian authorities to allow the movement of children from Ukraine to families in the Russian Federation… do not appear to include steps for family reunification or respect the best interest of the child.” It is proving a challenge to document the expansive number of cases and total abductions and executions of civilians. The full number may never be known, even if the West holds Putin accountable for the atrocities.
Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.
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