Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service has located the addresses of more than 300 Ukrainian children illegally taken to Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address on Friday.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, thousands of Ukrainian children have been forcibly taken from their families to Russia or occupied territories, in what Kyiv and international observers classify as a war crime.
Zelenskyy said the list of names and verified addresses will be shared with international partners and world leaders assisting in the effort to return the children.
The president described the initiative as part of “quiet diplomatic work” aimed at countering Moscow’s denial of responsibility for the deportations.
“We are giving our partners a list of children who must be returned,” Zelenskyy said. “To undermine any Russian attempts to pretend they don’t know about our children, we provide addresses.”
“The first such list - more than 300 names and addresses of abducted children - will be on the desks of all the leaders who are helping us,” he added.
Kyiv continues to compile additional lists as its intelligence and law enforcement agencies verify more cases.
The forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and occupied territories is one of the most severe allegations of war crimes leveled against Moscow since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in 2023 for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, over their alleged roles in the scheme.
