ECHR: Case of missing Ukrainian children in Crimea under Russian jurisdiction raised in Strasbourg
Notification to Russian Government of a case concerning ten Ukrainian children from Crimean childcare institutions
Registrar of the Court (14.04.2025) – The European Court of Human Rights has given notice to the Government of the Russian Federation of the application Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union on behalf of ten Ukrainian children v. Russia (application no. 6719/23) and requested that they submit their observations.
The case concerns ten Ukrainian children who were in childcare in Crimea in 2014 when Russia
asserted jurisdiction over the peninsula. According to the association (UHHRU) acting on their behalf, Russian nationality was forced 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.
See also a previous press release on the case concerning a request to the European Court by UHHRU to grant an urgent interim measure (under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court) to stop the adoptions.
A statement of facts submitted to the parties, with questions from the Court, is available in English on the Court’s website. The Court’s ruling in the case will be made at a later stage.
Principal facts
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, following Russia’s assertion of jurisdiction over Crimea in 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.
UHHRU submit that the ten children in the present case were put up for adoption and may have been adopted, judging from the sudden disappearance in 2023 of some of the children’s names from adoption websites in Russia.
Currently, UHHRU has no contact with the children and there is no information regarding their whereabouts.
Complaints
Relying on Article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, UHHRU argues that the arbitrary change of the children’s citizenship and their adoption, which was facilitated by the Russian authorities in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine, deprived them of their social identity as Ukrainian nationals.
Relying on Article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention, UHHRU also complains about the Russian authorities’ keeping the children in institutions after establishing effective control over Crimea.
Procedure
The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 14 January 2023.
On 8 February 2023 the Court received a request for an interim measure under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, in which UHHRU argued that there was an imminent risk that the applicants could be adopted, and that this was being facilitated by the Russian authorities. On 14 February 2023 the Court decided to refuse the request on the basis that it related to events (the adoption of the applicants) after 16 September 2022, the date on which the Russian Federation ceased to be a Party to the Convention, and issued a press release.
At the same time, the Court decided to grant the case priority, anonymity, and confidentiality under Rules 41, 47 § 4 and 33 § 2 of the Rules of the Court.
On 25 March 2025 the Government of Russia were given notice of the application with questions from the Court. The Government have until 31 July 2025 to submit their observations and were invited to confirm, within three weeks of the date on the Court’s letter, whether they intend to comply with this deadline.