- The case concerns children living in childcare institutions officially unaccounted for since 2014
- In addition to these children from Crimea, unaccounted for since 2014, Ukrainian authorities have verified the identities of more than 19,500 children unlawfully deported or forcibly transferred by Russia since the full-scale invasion in 2022.
| Independent research groups and officials estimate the true figures are even higher: Official Ukrainian Data: The Children of War platform has tracked roughly 19,546 confirmed cases of abducted children.Independent and International Estimates: The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab has documented at least 35,000 affected children, while Ukrainian children's rights officials estimate the total number could range between 200,000 and 300,000. Russian officials have claimed that upwards of 700,000 children have been moved into Russian territory. Facilities and "Re-education": Thousands of these children have been placed across dozens of specialized camps and facilities in Russia, Russian-occupied territories, and Belarus to undergo forced ideological re-education and militarization. |
The European Court of Human Rights has decided to hold a hearing on 22 September 2026 in the case Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union on behalf of ten Ukrainian children v. Russia (application no. 6719/23).
The case concerns ten Ukrainian children who were living in childcare institutions in Crimea in 2014 when Russia asserted jurisdiction over the peninsula. According to the association (UHHRU) acting on their behalf, Russian nationality was imposed on the children and they were put up for adoption and may have been adopted. There has been no information on their whereabouts since 2014, despite the Ukrainian authorities’ repeated requests. UHHRU allege that this effectively amounts to the children’s enforced disappearance.
UHHRU requested a public hearing under Rules 54 § 5 and 59 § 3 of the Rules of Court, citing the exceptional gravity and public importance of the case, which has also generated much media interest, as well as the need for factual and legal clarifications.
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La Habana, Jun. 24.


