'Alarming' Impact of Putin's Invasion on Ukraine's Children Revealed

More than 22,000 children in Ukraine have been injured, killed or kidnapped since the start of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion, according a nonprofit group working in the country.

The findings by the Ukraine Children's Action Project (UCAP) outlining the impact of the war on the country's future generation come as the Financial Times reported how children who were abducted and taken to Russia in the early months of the war have been put up for adoption by authorities there.

On May 13, United Nations agency UNICEF said at least 1,993 children had been killed or injured since the beginning of the full-scale war, although it noted the tally "is likely to be higher."

"Ukraine's children are being killed and injured at an alarming rate and psychological trauma and educational disruption are rampant," Irwin Redlener, an American pediatrician and public health activist who co-founded UCAP, told Newsweek.

UCAP's report said the figures only apply to unoccupied regions of the country and that it was "virtually impossible to assess the impact of the war on children in occupied areas of Ukraine," which comprise about one fifth (18 percent) of the country's area.

Redlener had warned in August 2022 of the prospect of a "lost generation" of Ukrainians. Meanwhile, as of Wednesday, the Ukrainian government website Children of War said there were 19,546 "deported or forcibly displaced" children.

"To understand that at least 20,000 Ukrainian kids have been abducted, taken to Russia with many being put up for adoption, is truly painful, and a major demoralization for families and the country at large," Redlener said.

In an investigation published Wednesday, the FT said that it had identified and located four Ukrainian children who had been abducted and taken to Russia at the start of the war and placed on an adoption website, linked to the Russian government.

The FT said it had used image recognition tools, public records and interviews with Ukrainian officials, as well as the children's relatives, to confirm the identities. One child has a new Russian name and age that is different from Ukrainian-issued documents while another had a Russian version of their Ukrainian name, the paper said.

The children aged between eight and 15 were taken from state care homes and separated from their guardians and relatives in the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine that fell under the control of Russia, according to the FT.

Putin and his Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova have been issued with arrest warrants by the ICC for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children as Moscow stands accused of using the method to crush Ukrainian identity.

The Kremlin, which Newsweek has contacted for comment, has objected to the ICC warrants and denies abducting children.

Meanwhile, UCAP's report noted that more than 4,000 schools have been destroyed and five million children have been displaced, either internally, or as refugees in Europe and North America.

In addition, it said many children in Ukraine are suffering from PTSD because of continued Russian bombardments and their concerns about the fate of their fathers and brothers who are in combat.

"The fact is that the impact on children will continue to grow, as long as the war rages on," Redlener said. "But I also see extraordinary children who are smart, motivated, interested and highly resilient. And that gives us hope."

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