State Children’s Search Portal Launched in Ukraine

On 1 August, the “Children of War” state portal for the search for minors, created on the instructions of the Head of State with the assistance of the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, the National Information Bureau, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the National Police, began operating in Ukraine.

As Darya Herasymchuk, the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children’s Rights and Children’s Rehabilitation said at a briefing, the information platform will help parents and law enforcement officers to collect information about children affected by the war, in particular, those who went missing or were illegally deported to Russia.

“This portal was created as a tool to search for children, rescue them, and free them from places of enforced displacement or deportation. The information posted here is a clear testimony of the genocide against Ukrainian children and the crimes against humanity that the Russian army commits against the Ukrainian people every day,” Herasymchuk said.

According to her, the platform has two main functions:

• to inform: to provide up-to-date and summarised information about children affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine (killed, injured, missing, deported), and those who were found and rescued. Quantitative indicators are updated daily by law enforcement agencies (the National Police and the Prosecutor General’s Office), as well as the National Information Bureau
• to help search for children: the platform allows contacting law enforcement agencies. The site can be used by parents of a lost, displaced, or deported child, and anyone who has any information about missing children, violations of their rights and crimes committed against them

The project of the Government of Canada “Support to Ukraine’s Reforms for Governance (SURGe)” provides informational and analytical support for the team.

Commissioner Herasymchuk also noted that the number of children physically affected by the war was increasing every day due to Russian strikes and constant hostilities in the territory of Ukraine.

As of 1 August, as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 693 children were injured, 358 were killed, 203 went missing, and at least 5,754 were forcibly displaced and deported.

At the same time, law enforcement agencies found 4,039 wanted children, and 47 children were returned from the territory of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the aggressor country reports at least 450,000 displaced and deported children to the territory of Russia.

“They have no intention to return our children to us. Ukraine has never faced such a threat to the life and freedoms of a child before. Therefore, now more than ever, it is important to receive the most comprehensive and prompt information about children to record, investigate crimes, and rescue them,” Herasymchuk emphasised.

She added that a Consultation Centre had been established under the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, where one can get offline and online consultations.

Bohdan Marusyak