AP Investigation: Moscow taking Ukrainian kids to raise them as Russians

By Sarah El Deeb, Tanya Titova, Anastasiia Shvets, Elizaveta Tilna and Kirill Zarubin

Russia has been open about its desire to turn Ukrainian orphans into Russian citizens with Russian families — the country has promoted adoptions on television, framing them as a generous outpouring for children in need. Whether or not they have parents, raising the children of war in another country or culture can be a marker of genocide, an attempt to erase culture and identity.

Investigative correspondent Sarah El Deeb started work on the story over the summer with Ukrainian journalists Anastasiia Shvets, based in Kyiv, and Lviv-based Elizaveta Tilna, reaching out to dozens of Ukrainians to determine the extent of the issue. The problem, Ukrainian officials say, is that they don’t even know the identities of the kids who have disappeared into Russia — many were pulled by Russian forces from bombed-out basements in besieged cities like Mariupol — making it all but impossible to trace them. Moscow producer Tanya Titova and cameraman Kirill Zarubin, meanwhile, reported from the other end, learning how the adoption process worked and locating large groups of Ukrainian children in camps throughout Russia.

El Deeb found a Ukrainian mother in France who had successfully retrieved her children just before they seemed set to vanish completely,while Titova found a Russian foster mother who was adopting Ukrainian children. Together,they told a story that is a flashpoints of the war. Prosecutors say the policy,which many consider a grave war crime,can be tied directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin,who has explicitly supported the adoptions. Titova’s contribution was crucial to the story but had to remain unbylined, as did the visuals from inside Russia. Stringer photographer Jeremias Gonzalez provided photos of the reunited family in France.

Other media have covered the allegations that Russia was taking Ukrainian children for the purpose of making them Russian. But the AP story was the first to show the process start to finish — and prove that many of the children are not orphans at all. Children were taken against their will,fed lies that they weren’t wanted by their parents,used for propaganda, and given Russian families and citizenship.

AP 22285857439023 ss — Children from an orphanage in the Donetsk region eat a meal at a camp in Zolotaya Kosa, a settlement on the Sea of Azov in the Rostov region of southwestern Russia, July 8, 2022. Russia’s open effort to adopt Ukrainian children and bring them up as Russian is emerging as one of the most explosive issues of the war. – AP Photo

AP 22285857550927 ss — Children transferred from different orphanages in the Donetsk region, eat a meal at a camp in Zolotaya Kosa, a settlement on the Sea of Azov in the Rostov region of southwestern Russia, July 8, 2022. An AP investigation found that officials have deported Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-held territories without consent, lied to them that they weren’t wanted by their parents, used them for propaganda, and given them Russian families and citizenship. – AP Photo

AP 22285857410752 ss — From left, Maksim, Eduardo, Timofey and Varvara play at a park in Loue, western France, July 2, 2022. Timofey looked after his five siblings while they were stranded in Mariupol, separated from their parents. After two months of tense negotiations and an objection from a senior Russian official, Donetsk People’s Republic authorities released the six children; they were eventually reunited with their parents. – AP Photo / Jeremias Gonzalez

AP 22285857434703 ss — Timofey, right, touches Sasha’s head in Loue, western France, July 2, 2022. At 17, Timofey was suddenly the father to his five siblings when they were stranded in Mariupol, separated from their parents during the war. – AP Photo / Jeremias Gonzalez

AP 22285857441546 ss — Olga Lopatkina, center, serves her family a snack in Loue, western France, July 2, 2022. Lopatkina successfully retrieved her children just before they seemed set to vanish completely in Russian territory. – AP Photo / Jeremias Gonzalez

AP 22285857443565 ss — Timofey sits in a car in Loue, western France, July 2, 2022. Timofey needed a couple of days before he could believe he was really back with his parents after being separated from them during the war. – AP Photo / Jeremias Gonzalez

AP 22285857450123 ss — In Loue, western France, July 2, 2022, Timofey shows a tattoo of three daggers — symbolizing protection, bravery or power — which he got months ago before leaving Ukraine. – AP Photo / Jeremias Gonzalez

AP 22285857553800 ss — Boys from an orphanage in the Donetsk region sit in beds at a camp in Zolotaya Kosa, a settlement on the Sea of Azov in the Rostov region of southwestern Russia, July 8, 2022. Russia portrays its adoption of Ukrainian children as an act of generosity that gives new homes and medical resources to helpless minors. – AP Photo

AP 22285857585373 ss — From left, Diana, Lena and Sonya, children from the Donetsk region, make crafts at a camp in Zolotaya Kosa, a settlement on the Sea of Azov in the Rostov region of southwestern Russia, July 8, 2022. – AP Photo

AP 22285857553449 ss — Ukrainian children Olesya Lyadchenko, left, and Yaroslava Rogachyova attend a camp in Zolotaya Kosa, a settlement on the Sea of Azov in the Rostov region of southwestern Russia, July 8, 2022. An AP investigation has found that Russia’s strategy to take Ukrainian orphans and bring them up as Russian is well underway. Yaroslava said she will miss the sea and Donetsk, but she has already met — via video link — her new family, and likes them. – AP Photo

AP 22285857447580 ss — Olga Lopatkina, left, and Maksim arrive home after a walk in a park in Loue, western France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. After two months of negotiation and an initial objection from a senior Russian official, Donetsk People’s Republic authorities finally agreed to allow a volunteer to collect Lopatkina’s six children, who had been evacuated from Mariupol and were held in Russian territory. – AP Photo / Jeremias Gonzalez

AP 22285857553260 ss — Timofey, left, and his father, Denys Lopatkin, watch TikTok videos from Ukraine in Loue, western France, July 2, 2022, after the family was reunited. – AP Photo / Jeremias Gonzalez

AP 22285857412567 ss — Olga Lopatkina and her reunited family walk in a park in Loue, western France, July 2, 2022. – AP Photo / Jeremias Gonzalez

AP 22285858083811 ss — Olga Lopatkina speaks to the AP during an interview at a park in Loue, western France, July 2, 2022. She successfully retrieved her six children from Russian territory just as it seemed they might vanish completely. – AP Photo / Jeremias Gonzalez

The story won wide play online and had 2 million impressions on Twitter. In addition,BBC “Newsday” ran a live segment with El Deeb. Most tellingly,the reporting was singled out during a State Department briefing — a rare acknowledgement by U.S. officials of the importance of AP’s reporting in Ukraine.

For documenting a severe breach of human rights with a heart-wrenching story that resonated across audiences,El Deeb,Titova,Shvets, Tilna and Zarubin earn AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner honors.