The head of the International Committee in the Russian Federation Council, Gregory Karasin, stated that Russia has brought approximately 700,000 children from conflict areas in Ukraine to Russian territory. Karasin wrote on Telegram, "In recent years, seven thousand children have found refuge with us, fleeing the bombardment in conflict areas in Ukraine."
Moscow claims that its program to bring children from Ukraine to Russian territory aims to protect orphans and children who have become alone in conflict areas and have no one to care for them. However, Ukraine alleges that many children have been deported illegally, and the United States states that thousands of children have been forced to leave their homes.
Most of the transfers of children occurred in the first few months of the war, before Ukraine began its major counteroffensive to reclaim territories occupied by Russia in the east and south, in late August. In July, U.S. estimates indicated that Russia "forcibly deported" 260,000 children, while the Ukrainian Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories stated that 19,492 Ukrainian children were transferred illegally.
