Published on 14-04-2025, Last modified on 14-04-2025
Open Lecture “Political and legal aspects of responsibility for the displacement and deportation of Ukrainian children”
Since the start of the full-scale invasion on 24 February, the Russian Federation has been carrying out large-scale unlawful transfers and deportations of civilians, including children, from the occupied territories of Ukraine. These actions are accompanied by the militarization and indoctrination of Ukrainian children in the occupied territory or in Russia, resulting in a forced loss of identity that amounts to a crime against humanity.
The international community has unequivocally condemned Russia’s actions in the unlawful transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children as a gross violation of international law, and international and national jurisdictions have provisionally classified this alleged crime as a war crime, a crime against humanity and, in the long term, genocide. Ukraine is using all possible mechanisms for the return of Ukrainian children.
The lecture will examine the scope and purpose of Russia’s illegal transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children, the methods used, and the broader context of this violation of international law during the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.
Invited lecturer: Dr. Natalia Hendel
Dr. Nataliia Hendel is a researcher at the Institute of Information, Security and Law of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine. She was a research fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (2022-2024). She is a member of the advisory board of the GROMADA project, which aims to recover Ukraine’s environment. Dr Nataliia Hendel is a member of the Ukrainian Association of International Law and a member of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association. She is an expert at the Fundamental Research Support Fund and a coordinator of the analytical direction of the Ukraine 5 AM Coalition. She is a member of the working group on the protection of the natural environment from the consequences of armed conflict of the Interdepartmental Commission on the Application and Implementation of International Humanitarian Law in Ukraine and a member of the International Council of Experts on Crimes Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine.