Europol tracked 45 children Russia deported all the way to the military units that moved them — and passed the evidence to Kyiv

Europol passed Ukraine intelligence on 45 forcibly displaced or deported children on 21 April — covering transportation routes, individuals responsible, military units that facilitated the crimes, and facilities where the children may have been taken — Ukrinform reported, citing a comment from Europol's spokesperson. The handover builds on a two-day coordinated intelligence operation and forms part of Europol's broader support for Ukrainian war crimes investigations.

What Europol passed to Ukraine

Europol spokesperson Jaap Op Gen Oort told Ukrinform: 

"On Monday (21 April 2026, — Ed.) we passed to the Ukrainian authorities information on 45 Ukrainian children who were forcibly displaced or deported to Russia, Belarus, or temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine."

Op Gen Oort said the intelligence was compiled jointly with the Netherlands and partners from 17 countries. 

"We brought together 40 open-source intelligence experts who gathered important information, including on transportation routes, individuals involved in the deportations, military units that facilitated these crimes, and institutions where the children may have been taken," he said.

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The operation itself took place on 16-17 April, as Ukrinform had previously reported. Europol and the Netherlands led the coordinated effort to identify and track children forcibly displaced or deported to temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory, Russia, and Belarus.

Op Gen Oort described the handover as part of Europol's broader mission: 

"This work is part of our broader mission to support the Ukrainian authorities in their ongoing investigations into the forcible displacement of more than 19,500 children."

The scale of Russia's deportations

Ukraine officially identifies over 19,500 children forcibly displaced or deported since Russia's full-scale invasion began — but the true number is unknown. Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets warned it could reach 150,000 or higher. A Russian official claimed in 2023 that Russia had relocated 700,000 children from Ukrainian war zones — a figure that cannot be independently verified.

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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told a UN envoy on 13 April that Russia was systematically changing deported children's documents, placing them in foster families in remote Russian regions, and using them as leverage in negotiations. 

Ukraine has brought back more than 2,000 children through its Bring Kids Back UA initiative, but the vast majority remain unaccounted for.

In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and Russia's commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova — making Putin a wanted man under international law for this crime specifically.