Ukraine says 25 civilians, including children, taken from occupied Kharkiv region to unknown location
Russian forces have forcibly removed 25 Ukrainian civilians, including children and elderly residents, from occupied territory in Kharkiv Oblast, according to Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets. Their current whereabouts are unknown.
In an October 9 statement, Lubinets said Russian troops had taken the residents from an occupied area of the region where fighting was ongoing, presenting the operation as an evacuation.
He said Russian forces had publicized the operation on their Telegram channels, describing it as a rescue mission. However, according to Lubinets, available video footage indicated that civilians had been subjected to pressure and intimidation.
“Russia calls this an ‘evacuation.’ But when people are taken away against their will, intimidated, and left with no choice, it is not a rescue. It is coercion,” he wrote.
The footage cited by the commissioner has not been independently verified. The precise destination of the 25 civilians, the number of children among them and the conditions in which they are being held remain unclear.
Lubinets said he had contacted Russia's human rights commissioner, demanding the identities and whereabouts of all 25 people, information about their living conditions and measures to secure their return to Ukraine.
He also appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations and other international organizations for assistance. No response from those organizations was reported in his statement.
Warning over personal data
Lubinets also warned that Russian occupation authorities had created a Telegram bot purportedly intended to organize evacuations.
According to the commissioner, the bot collects personal information, including passport details, addresses and telephone numbers. He warned that such information could be used against residents of occupied territories and their families.
He urged Ukrainians not to submit their own or their children's personal documents through the service.
The commissioner did not establish a direct connection between the bot and the removal of the 25 civilians.
International law
Lubinets said the forced removal of civilians from occupied territory violated international humanitarian law, citing the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Article 49 of the convention prohibits forcible transfers and deportations of protected civilians from occupied territory, subject to limited exceptions for evacuations required by civilian safety or imperative military reasons.
Russia's forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children has also been the subject of international criminal proceedings.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over alleged war crimes involving the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine.
Lubinets urged anyone with information about the missing civilians, or who had lost contact with relatives in occupied Kharkiv Oblast, to contact his office through its official hotlines.