- 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.
The decision to hold a hearing has been published on the Court’s website today. Any potential third-party interveners have four weeks from today to request taking part in the hearing.
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Principal facts and complaints
The application was lodged by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU) on behalf of ten minors, born between 2009 and 2013, who are Ukrainian nationals by birth.
In 2014 the children were wards of the Ukrainian State living in childcare institutions in Crimea. At the time they were aged between one and five years old.
According to UHHRU, after Russia had asserted jurisdiction over Crimea on 27 February 2014, over 4,000 children deprived of parental care were automatically declared Russian citizens. Despite the Ukrainian Government's requests, Russia refused to transfer the children to the Ukrainian authorities and initiated adoption procedures.
Relying on Article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights, UHHRU complains about the Russian authorities’ keeping the children in institutions after establishing effective control over Crimea, concealing information on their whereabouts and including them in Russian adoption or foster placement systems. They allege that certain applicants have possibly already been adopted, and that this altogether amounts to the children’s enforced disappearance.
Relying on Article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the European Convention, UHHRU argues that the arbitrary change of the children’s citizenship, their listing on adoption websites, which was carried out by the Russian authorities in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine, failed to respect and protect their social identity as Ukrainian nationals.
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