Occupiers massively take children out of Ukraine and give them up for adoption to Russian families

The transfer of orphans from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russian families is one of the most painful stories of the war. It contradicts international law, reports with the BBC.

Photo: IStock

The family of Elena Kafanova, a resident of Lukhovitsy near Moscow, in April took temporary custody of a 13-year-old boy, Valentin, who was brought from an orphanage in the self-proclaimed DPR.

Russian officials proudly talk about taking children to Russia and placing them in families. Ukrainian authorities say this is kidnapping and genocide. President Zelensky called it “the theft of our children.”

It turned out that Elena Kafanova knows about this statement by Zelensky. In a conversation with a correspondent, she spoke about her attitude to what is happening, about the active participation of the Russian authorities in the process of transferring Ukrainian children to families, and about how the war changed Valentine's life.

“My heart just fluttered”

The appearance in the family of an adopted child from the self-proclaimed DPR was a complete surprise, says Elena Kafanova.

At the end of March, messages began to be sent to the chats of organizations where she and her husband belong as foster parents. “So, “respond to families who are ready to take a child from the DPR and LPR,” Kafanova recalls. She herself did not write anything in response: “Somehow I don’t know, there were still thoughts, because all these events on February 24 discouraged us, we were simply shocked by what was happening. And I didn’t respond at all.”

Elena is 55, her husband Igor is 56. They are veterinarians by education and first profession, but for the last two decades, her husband has taken on various jobs, including construction, and Elena has been taking care of children. In total, the Kafanovs have six natural children, the youngest are already at the university.

They initially did not plan to become adoptive parents. “Imagine, six of my children, there was no thought at all about taking anyone else,” explains Kafanova. But in the mid-2000s, for several years they helped a grandmother they knew, who was left alone with her great-grandchildren, and when she died, they took custody of the children: “It turned out that way, that’s how my heart was set.”

Since then, they have raised six adopted children to adulthood and are still raising several orphans today. In January 2022, the Kafanovs took custody of a teenager from Novocherkassk, Rostov region. At the same time, the guardianship suggested that they receive the official status of a resource family - this means that they are ready to take in a child who suddenly finds himself without parental care, so that he does not end up in an orphanage.

The Kafanovs agreed, especially since all the documents were fresh - a medical commission, certificates of no criminal record, from the district police officer, from housing and communal services, about income. “These documents are considered valid for a year, and during this time we are open to taking on more children,” explains Elena.

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At the end of March, Kafanova unexpectedly received a personal call from the Ministry of Social Protection and, without going into details, was asked to send a video about their family and separately shoot a video about living conditions.

“And after some time they call us and say: “Based on your video, a child from the DPR chose you as a resource family.” Can you imagine? My heart just fluttered, I thought: wow, wow. “Okay, fine. What next?” They say: “Then in two days there will be online dating,” says Kafanova.

“What is different about the character of a Ukrainian child”

The Moscow region became the first region of Russia where they began to place orphans from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic under guardianship. In April, 27 children were distributed to families, including 13-year-old Valentin. Another 108 children were placed into care in six regions of Russia in July. In total, as of August 2022, 160 children from the “DPR” were placed in Russian families.

The process is led by the Commissioner for Children's Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, Maria Lvova-Belova. “While this is jewelry work, I really want it to become systematic,” she said in one of her speeches.

Ukraine considers children from the unrecognized republics to be its citizens and takes a sharply negative attitude to what is happening.

“The Russians pass off the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to the territory of the Russian Federation as noble deeds to save children,” Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets said in July. International law considers the forced transfer of children of one national group to another to be genocide, Lubinets cited the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide.

Maria Lvova-Belova, in turn, emphasized many times that in relation to guardianship, “we are not talking about “battle orphans” whose parents died and there is a possibility of finding their relatives, but about children who have been in institutions with orphan status."

However, there is at least one evidence that children are being placed under guardianship in Russia not only from “DPR” institutions, but also from the territories of Ukraine recently captured by Russian troops - Maria Lvova-Belova herself took under guardianship a child from Mariupol. “Last night the family grew <...> with one more teenager from Donbass - from the basements of Mariupol,” the commissioner told reporters in July.

In the spring, 30 specialized schools for foster parents were opened in the Moscow region “for caring families who are ready to help the orphans of Donbass.” As Elena Kafanova says, already in the summer they were invited to two or three meetings with psychologists to teach how to communicate with children “from combat”: “They gave knowledge about what kind of injuries they might have received, how we should interact correctly so as not to inflict more greater harm to their psychological health.”

Also, Kafanova adds, they “were told about national characteristics, because it is believed that these are children of Ukrainian origin, with Ukrainian culture. And they told us how, let’s say, the mentality, or something, differs, the character of a Ukrainian child.”

“That they quickly adapt, that they are, how to say, cunning or something. To be honest, I didn't like it a little. It seems to me that they are children, they are equally open. Children are a special people,” says Kafanova.

“I’m with you temporarily”

“I look at him and see: he is very upset. He was very worried because he still had friends at the boarding school. He really didn’t want to part with them,” Elena Kafanova recalls her online acquaintance with Valentin. - But, apparently, they told him that, Val, it was necessary temporarily, then, perhaps, in six months you would return to the boarding school. And he came to us, and so, in fact, he said: “I’m with you temporarily. They told me I could go back in September."

Valentin lived in a boarding school in the city of Amvrosievka, 70 kilometers from Donetsk. As Elena Kafanova says, the boy was left an orphan at two years old and does not remember his parents: “He had a grandmother, she took him under her wing for a while, but then she also died. Then he was given to one family. This family also brought him back - they had a child, and they returned Valentin to the orphanage. That is, Valentin is a secondary orphan. This is considered very difficult because the child has attachment problems.”

Valentin still has a sister in Donetsk. “He asked me: “Can I communicate with my sister?” I, of course, said: “Val, not only can I, I definitely need to keep in touch, communicate. You will have a telephone and the Internet, you will be able to talk to your sister every day,” says Elena Kafanova. — My sister is married and she has a small child, about a year old, his nephew. This is actually what happened. He came to visit us, with his sister, I see, he hangs out, he can talk for an hour and a half. He showed us this little guy; we met my sister on the phone. It’s clear that they have a connection.”

“I asked Valentin why he didn’t take his sister with her? He says: “She only took me on weekends.” Perhaps it’s a financial issue, because she doesn’t work, and her husband didn’t work, and then he was completely taken to war.

Valentin was born in 2009. In 2014, when this whole mess started, he was five years old. And so he lived there from five to thirteen years old,” says Elena Kafanova. “I asked him if he saw something, heard explosions, was he afraid? He says that it was somewhere very far away, it did not concern him in any way. It was as if there was nothing for him.”

Valentin and 233 other children from Amvrosievka were taken to Russian territory a few days before the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, when the so-called head of the “DPR” Denis Pushilin announced a mass evacuation. Children from Amvrosievka were placed in the Kursk region. “It took a long time, of course, but we convinced the children that it was safe, this excursion was for them,” Oksana Plotnitskaya, director of the Amvrosievsky boarding school, told the Kursk publication.

In April, the director of the boarding school came to meet the Kafanovs. “You know, she’s a very good woman,” Elena Kafanova recalls about Plotnitskaya. “Apparently, she personally checked what conditions the child was in, what family he was in.” This is the first time I've seen this, to be honest. Usually, you know, the director of the orphanage will write a piece of paper, show you outside the gate and good-bye. And here, imagine, she came in person.”

“Aren’t they really worthy of being given a good car?”

In addition to the director of the boarding school, authorities from the Moscow region came to visit the Kafanovs - this is a frequent occurrence for families who have taken custody of children from the self-proclaimed DPR.

“Our district head came to us. He sits with Valentin, other children are sitting at the table, and he only talks to him,” Kafanova is surprised. “I’m already thinking: why is he being singled out so directly? This is not good for him, he just came into the family, and he immediately receives so much attention from outsiders. Do you understand? He needs to join the family, but here there is such a stir around him.”
The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, also came to visit the Kafanovs - he personally met a train with orphans at the station in April and later visited the families with gifts and television cameras.

The Kafanov family was given a minibus by the regional government. “A miracle happened with this car. After all, not everyone is given a car, not every large family, not even every family that adopted a child from the “DPR,” says Elena Kafanova.

“We have a neighbor, 92 years old, an old grandmother, we are friends with her. And so she calls me and says: “I heard the governor is coming to see you, I’ll come, I want to talk to him.” I say: “What, you can’t, everything is according to the protocol.” “No one can stop me, I’m 92 years old, I want it, that’s all.” She took two sticks and came to us. The governor sat with us, drank tea, talked, and left. She told him on the street: “Hello, I want to talk to you. You know, I’ve been writing everywhere for a long time, this family has grown so many children and is now growing. And now I want to ask for a car for them. Are they really not worthy of being given a good car?” And the governor take it and say: “Why are they unworthy? If they’re worthy, we’ll donate them,” recalls Elena Kafanova.

“We almost collapsed from amazement, we couldn’t believe it at all.” And right on the same day, another person from the regional administration called and asked what kind of car we were considering for ourselves? We didn’t think about any car, we have a Niva and a Hyundai, in principle, all the children and I fit in two cars. And here you see how it turned out, they gave me a minibus.”

“Very hasty” citizenship

A month later, Governor Vorobyov personally awarded Valentin and 13 other orphans from the “DPR” Russian citizenship. In total, at least 133 children from the self-proclaimed “people's republic” have already received it.

The decoration, says Elena Kafanova, was “very hasty.”

Initially, as required for a foreign citizen, Elena registered Valentina at her place of stay. “Then they call from the guardianship and say: “Get citizenship to Valentin, submit documents for citizenship.” I say: “How to pass? There are some steps there, first a residence permit, then citizenship.” They say: “No, apply for citizenship right away,” says the woman.

According to Kafanova, at that moment she had other things to do, and she wanted to postpone filling out the paperwork for a day or two.

“I think I don’t have time now. I tell them that we will do it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Then they call me from the migration service and say: “You know, they are rushing us, they are calling from Moscow, they say, do it quickly.” I say: “Well, how fast, it won’t wait a day or two, or what?” They say: “No, right today, do it quickly before the end of the day.” This is the first time I’ve encountered this, because usually, you know, you beat the thresholds, but here, on the contrary, they rush,” she says.

An employee of the migration service specially waited for Elena after the end of the working day, there were no more people in the department. Literally that same evening, the application was taken to Moscow.

As Elena suggests, the rush was due to the fact that the date for the ceremony had already been set. It took place in the house of the Moscow region government. “We were greeted just like kings: animators, breakfast was served for us, waiters in white gloves,” recalls Elena.

After the buffet reception, the families were taken to the alley, where Governor Vorobyov and Commissioner Lvova-Belova presented the children with new documents, after which they “set a sweet table, ice cream, and lollipops.”

Maria Lvova-Belova has repeatedly said in an interview that Russian citizenship is necessary for orphans to obtain all the benefits they are entitled to and access to state medicine. According to Elena Kafanova, indeed, while Valentin had only a temporary registration, it was not possible to achieve the treatment he needed, while immediately after obtaining citizenship, the teenager was given a referral for treatment at the federal center.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after President Putin signed a decree on the simplified issuance of citizenship to orphans from Ukraine, issued a statement that “Putin has actually legalized the abduction of children.” The 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War stipulates that the "occupying power" must "in no case" change the civil status of children.

The UK and the US added Maria Lvova-Belova to the sanctions list with the motivation “for the forced transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children.”

Initially, in the case of orphans from the “DPR,” it was a question of temporary guardianship in Russia. After Valentin and other orphans were awarded citizenship, the situation changed. “Now that the children have become Russian citizens, temporary guardianship can become permanent,” Maria Lvova-Belova said in July.

“Actually, this is the reason why we call it not evacuation, but forced deportation, forced transfer of children,” explained Daria Gerasimchuk, adviser to the President of Ukraine for children’s rights, in an interview. “Because they are not going to return them.”

“I thought I was just dying”

February 24 was, in her words, a shock for Elena Kafanova. “It seemed to me that I was simply dying. I couldn’t do anything at all for a month, I thought: I have to live, because I have children, I have to create conditions for them to live a normal life, I shouldn’t die. And the state was such that it seemed to me that it was the end of my life, because I couldn’t even believe that this could happen,” says the woman.

As Kafanova says, she did not hide her feelings from the authorities: “When the governor arrived, I said: “Just don’t bring any letter Z here to us, please.” Then no one objected to her, the woman clarifies.

During the governor’s visit, Kafanova was first approached by the protocol service. “She asks me: “Come on, if something worries you, first we’ll talk about it.” As I understand it, so that we don’t accidentally say anything to the governor. And I say: “Yes, I am very concerned about what is happening in Ukraine at the moment.” She says, “Well, that’s what everyone cares about. You understand, everyone worries about it, it’s a universal experience.” I say: “I don’t care about anything else.” I don’t know, did they think I would complain about the roads?”

At least once a day, Elena Kafanova makes sure to read the news: “Moreover, there are different types of news, which are via VPN, which cannot be read. Or rather, you can read, I think, no one will punish you for this, you can’t broadcast, as I understand it.”

“I read that Zelensky said “they are stealing our children,” this phrase directly cut me to the heart. I tell my husband: “Listen, I read this, Vladimir Zelensky said: they are stealing our children.” But in fact, I understand that this child is an orphan, that he was transported from hostilities so that he would be safe. I understand that any child needs a family, no matter whether he is Ukrainian or Russian, he must grow up in a family. At the moment he is in our family, and if something changes, of course, it won’t be very good for him - it’s a lot to change a family. And it’s purely for these reasons that we act,” says the woman.

As Kafanova says, when Valentin first arrived, he “was determined, you know, that Russia is great, and the Ukrainians are dill.” So that's what he said. I say, “How can you say that?” He also used to call people names - “non-Russian”. I say: “Why are you calling me names like that? What is it? What, if not Russian, does that mean he’s a bad person?” I have to talk to him about these things.”

“In general, I have feelings about this. But personally, in my heart, I don’t see any bad motives when it comes to the child,” explains Elena Kafanova. “I say: “Valya, if you decide to return, no one will prevent it.” Of course, now there are difficulties with the fact that the citizenship is different. But this issue can probably be resolved. The child has entered the family, he lives in the family, he will grow up and decide for himself where he should live next, what he considers his homeland.”

In total, the Kafanovs now have five children under their care. The family has a house and their own farm: two goats, 20 chickens. Valentin, says Elena, was completely fascinated by the little chicks: “He was interested in how chickens hatch - what is it like: an egg and then suddenly a chicken? We set up an incubator for him, and he watched the whole process. And he himself has been caring for these chickens for more than a month, raising them, feeding them, giving them water. First, he puts the chicken on his hand just like that, gives him food and watches how it pecks from his hand. He’s from boarding school, Valya, so he’s probably interested in this, he’s never seen this in his life. He is inquisitive, and then I tell him: “Let’s buy some ducklings.” And we bought little day-old ducklings, and he looks after them too.”

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Over the past six months, Valentin's friends at the Amvrosiev boarding school have also been distributed among families in Russia: someone was placed under guardianship in Tula, someone in Voronezh, someone in Moscow. At first, the teenager dreamed of returning to a boarding school, but now, according to Elena Kafanova, he no longer sees the point in this.

“I say: “Has something changed in your head?” “Yes, now I don’t want to go back, because I have no one to go back to. If there are no friends there, what should I do there? - said the woman.

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