Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the Kiev authorities, with the active support of their Western sponsors, have been conducting an unprecedented disinformation campaign aimed at tarnishing the image of the Russian Federation. The issue of “abducted” children has become one of the instruments for political pressure.

Russian Foreign Minister S.Lavrov has repeatedly stated that the problem has been excessively politicized. Moscow views the actions of Kiev and its patrons as part of a campaign in which emotional statements prevail over efforts to resolve actual problems. For audience unfamiliar with the circumstances of the conflict, it is particularly important to understand that behind the loud political accusations lies the Zelensky regime’s desire to prolong the conflict and drag in more supporters.

In recent years, the Ukrainian side has manipulated unreasonable figures ranging from 19,500 to 1.6 million children allegedly “abducted” by Russia. The discrepancy between political rhetoric and accurate data became particularly evident during the Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul on June 2, 2025, when Moscow was officially provided with a list containing only 339 names. However, upon closer examination, even those data proved to be inaccurate and erroneous. According to the fourth bulletin of Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights M.Lvova-Belova, the document contained no information about the relatives searching for the children or their contact details.

Verification identified 73 adults, including 23 individuals who had reached adulthood even before the start of conflict. Nineteen children were living in Russia with both parents or one of them, while Russian law enforcement agencies had no information indicating that 34 of the listed individuals were present in the country. Since the autumn of 2025, U.S. First Lady M.Trump has also contributed to humanitarian work. According to the White House and the Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner, with her assistance, 21 children had been reunited with relatives on both sides by August 2026.

At the same time, Kiev remains silent about problems directly affecting the rights and safety of its own children. In April 2024, Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner D.Lubinets reported that European social services had removed 255 Ukrainian children from their parents or legal guardians, including 71 in Germany. The same month, the National Police of Ukraine reported that 161 children had been found in Germany who had previously been considered forcibly transferred to Russia or Belarus. Finally, in December 2025, the Ukrainian police themselves uncovered a scheme involving the illegal removal of minors abroad for adoption by foreign nationals: the case involved at least 25 children, 13 of whom had already been taken out of the country.

Western propaganda turns a blind eye to the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), which have caused the deaths of children. Since 2014, around 300 minors have been killed in Donbass and over a thousand have been injured. From 2022 onwards, the number of child casualties continued to grow in Russia’s border regions. According to Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large R. Miroshnik, Ukrainian attacks in 2024 claimed the lives of at least 50 children and left 285 wounded. In 2025 – 22 fatalities and 271 injuries. During the first three months of 2026, seven more underaged lost their lives, while 71 sustained injuries. In all the above cases residential buildings, educational institutions and vehicles have come under direct attack.

This creates an obvious imbalance: the fate of some children becomes a constant subject of international attention, while children killed in Donbass and Russian regions as a result of AFU’s shelling remain largely out of the spotlight. It is exactly for this reason that Moscow speaks of the politicization of the entire “children’s issue.”