Editorial | Putin’s way of treating children says everything about him

Editorial|Editorial

Qthe stories of Grozny razed to the ground by Russian forces and the hospitals of Aleppo bombed into ruins had been imprinted on our collective consciousness to such an extent that the Russian way of warfare was known to be brutal and brutal.

Still, Russia’s inhuman actions in its major attack on Ukraine have been shocking. The victims of Russia have been Ukrainian civilians, whom Russia tries to terrorize in every way. This has been seen not only in mass graves and torture chambers uncovered in areas liberated from Russian occupation, but also in the systematic destruction of infrastructure. The Russian leadership would have liked the Ukrainians to spend the past winter without heat, electricity and running water.

Russia’s actions in Ukraine are tempered by the imperialist nature of the war. When Russia’s goal is to crush the Ukrainians as a nation, Russia carelessly also uses the tools of genocide.

One way to murder a nation is to steal its children. Russian warfare includes the systematic forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia, where the Russian authorities place the children with Russian adoptive families. The purpose is to make Ukrainian children Russian.

Such illegal forced transfers are a war crime. The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced last month that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is personally criminally responsible for this action. That is why the ICC issued an international arrest warrant for Putin.

ICC worked correctly. At the same time, it forced us to look at the children’s situation more broadly.

Vthe forced transfers of Ukrainian children carried out by Enäja concern a large number of people. The exact numbers are not known, but according to the Ukrainian authorities, there are even more than 16,000 children.

Some of these children were previously placed in institutions in areas that were occupied by Russia. Some of the children had a home in other parts of Ukraine, but they were stuck in the territories occupied by Russia – for example, school children in camp centers. Some are children of parents arrested by the Russian occupation regime. Some are children whose parents have died in Russian bombings in, for example, Mariupol. Some are separated from their parents for some other reason and left in the clutches of the Russians.

Russian authorities refer to these children as orphans rescued by Russia, even though most children abducted from orphanages are not orphans. Russia is televising macabre ceremonies in which these children are granted Russian citizenship.

The Russian authorities threaten children who have been separated from their parents with adoption, unless the parents quickly arrive in Moscow to prove their parentage. It is very difficult in many cases, which the Russian authorities know. In many cases, the authorities have lied to children that their Ukrainian parents do not care about their children.

After difficult negotiations, the Ukrainian authorities have only been able to return about 300 children from Russia. In addition, some parents have managed to get their children back from Russia, but it has required luck.

LForced transfer of degrees is not the only cruelty Putin has inflicted on children.

Because Russia is bombing residential areas, schools and shopping centers in Ukraine, more than 500 children have already died in the attack it started a year ago, according to organizations. There are more than 900 injured children. The real number is probably much higher. In addition, it will continue to grow for a long time because there are mines and unexploded ordnance in large areas.

But Putin does not treat Russian children kindly either. In kindergartens and schools, children are victims of Putinist brainwashing. Children who criticize the war are punished and taken into custody. In the worst case, their parents will be imprisoned.

The treatment of children says a lot about a person. It says everything about Putin.

The editorials are HS’s positions on a current topic. The articles are prepared by HS’s editorial department, and they reflect the journal principle line.