Europol Gives Ukraine Intelligence on 45 Forcibly Displaced Children on April 21
Europol provided Ukraine with intelligence on 45 forcibly displaced children on April 21, including details on routes and perpetrators. This is part of a larger effort to investigate the displacement of over 19,500 Ukrainian children, a crime for which the ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova.
Europol provided Ukraine with intelligence on 45 forcibly displaced or deported children on April 21. This information includes transportation routes, individuals responsible, military units involved, and facilities where the children may have been taken. The intelligence was compiled jointly with the Netherlands and partners from 17 countries, involving 40 open-source intelligence experts.
This handover follows a coordinated intelligence operation conducted on April 16-17, led by Europol and the Netherlands. It forms part of Europol's broader support for Ukrainian war crimes investigations into the forcible displacement of over 19,500 children. Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets estimates the true number could be 150,000 or higher. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova in 2023 for this crime.