Ukrainian prosecutors charge Crimean “health minister” over abduction of children from Kherson
Pravda Ukraine
Ukrainian law enforcement authorities have issued in absentia charges against the so-called “minister of health of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea” and his deputy for involvement in the illegal deportation of 46 children from an orphanage in Kherson to occupied Crimea in October 2022.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General; Security Service of Ukraine (SSU)
Details: Juvenile prosecutors established that in October 2022, the “minister of health of Crimea” and his deputy orchestrated the unlawful transfer of children from the orphanage in Kherson.
Quote: “On 21 October 2022, they arrived in buses marked with the Russian invasion symbol, the letter Z. On the same day, a Russian State Duma (the lower chamber of the Russian parliament) member arrived at the facility along with Russian soldiers to oversee the process of getting children into the vehicles. The perpetrators of this crime included the ‘minister’, his deputy, a pro-Russian collaborator who was the orphanage director, and other unidentified individuals.”
More details: The investigators reported that 46 children were taken to occupied Crimea and placed in a facility controlled by the Russian occupation authorities called Yalinka (Spruce).
On 28 October 2022, the “Russian children’s rights commissioner” visited the orphanage and announced that her office would facilitate placing the children in Russian foster families. Shortly thereafter, profiles of some of the children appeared on the Russian government’s adoption website.
Investigators also discovered that the “minister of health” and his deputy received awards from the leadership of the occupation administration in Crimea and the Russian ruler for their actions. Charges have now been filed against them.
The SSU reported that the suspects are two local residents who supported the 2014 Russian occupation of Crimea: Konstantin Skorupsky, the so-called “minister of health of Crimea” and his deputy Anton Lyaskovsky. Their actions have been classified as violations of the laws and customs of war (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Earlier, as part of this criminal case, three other individuals were charged, including a Russian State Duma member.
Background:
- In June 2024, The New York Times detailed the Russian abduction scheme, which included the deportation of 46 children from the orphanage in Kherson.
- At the time of the Russian invasion, the orphanage housed children under the age of five, some of whom had severe conditions such as cerebral palsy and autism. However, these children were not orphans – some had parents whose custody rights were under judicial review.
- As of June 2024, only seven children from the Kherson orphanage had been brought back to Ukraine, while one had died from an epileptic seizure.
- The profiles of 22 of these children appeared in Russia’s federal database of orphans. The database falsely listed them as being from Crimea, omitting their actual place of birth. At least two of them have already been placed with Russian families.
- Seven children were recently brought back from occupied territories and Russia. Some of them had witnessed Russian soldiers abusing their parents and kidnapping relatives.
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