Europol hackathon identifies 45 more Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia

Prefer on Google by Francis Farrell Photo for illustrative purposes only. Ukrainian woman Inessa (R) meets her son Vitaly after he and over a dozen of other Ukrainian children were brought back from Russian-held territory to Kyiv on March 22, 2023. More than 19,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (Sergei Chuzavkov/AFP via Getty Images) An international open-source investigation coordinated by Europol in The Hague has uncovered information on 45 children who were forcibly transferred or deported by Russia from occupied areas of Ukraine, the organization said on April 20. The two-day operation, held on April 16-17, brought together 40 experts from 18 countries, alongside the International Criminal Court and several non-governmental partners. According to Europol , the team produced 45 reports containing leads that could help locate the children and identify people or structures involved in their transfer. The material gathered includes possible transportation routes, individuals who may have enabled the deportations such as orphanage directors, military units that may have assisted, camps or facilities where children were taken, and online platforms that may contain photographs of the children. Investigators also collected information suggesting that some deported children may now be linked to Russian military units. Europol's hackathon is part of a wider effort to document and investigate the deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied territories to Russia and Belarus. The agency said the digital investigation techniques used during the event are designed to support ongoing Ukrainian investigations by turning scattered online traces into actionable leads. Ukrainian authorities say more than 19,500 children have been forcibly removed since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022. The forced transfer or deportation of children can amount to a war crime under international legal frameworks, and it is one of the allegations that has drawn the closest scrutiny from international prosecutors. The International Criminal Court has already been examining cases connected to the war, including alleged crimes tied to the removal of Ukrainian children. This was the third such Europol-led event, and the second specifically focused on Ukrainian children who were forcibly transferred or deported.