On Thursday, February 19, the Dutch government announced the allocation of additional assistance of 2 million euros for the search and return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
This is stated on the website of the Dutch government.
“Since Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in May 2014, thousands of Ukrainian children have gone missing. The Netherlands is working to identify them and return them to Ukraine. In 2026, the Netherlands has allocated an additional 2 million euros for this purpose, including the provision of DNA kits to help reunite abducted children with their families,” the report says.
According to Roos Bos, a representative of the Dutch Foreign Ministry responsible for combating child abductions, this problem arose in 2014, but after the start of a full-scale war in 2022, cases of abductions increased significantly.
“Russia claimed to be rescuing children, pretending that the disappearances were humanitarian evacuations, but in reality it was simply kidnapping them… Some are being forcibly adopted and placed with Russian families. There is only one reason why Russia is doing this: the goal is to destroy Ukraine's identity and culture and undermine its existence as an independent country,” Bos said.
According to her, the allocated funds will be used to purchase DNA testing kits, which will allow Ukraine to create a database so that children returning from Russia “can be reunited with their families as soon as possible.”
“DNA kits can be used to test family members of missing Ukrainian children, providing information that can later be used to show that parents and children belong to each other… This increases the chances of family reunification. It also allows Ukrainian police to create a large database of DNA evidence,” Bos noted.
The official noted that DNA analysis has already helped to obtain significant results. In particular, at the end of last year:
- About 2,000 DNA samples from Ukrainian parents searching for their children have been collected;
- genetic material from over 3,600 personal belongings of children who disappeared from orphanages and other institutions was examined;
- The identification of children who died during the full-scale war was carried out, with the subsequent return of the bodies to their families.
“The DNA database helps collect evidence of child abductions, which can be used to prosecute war crimes in courts, including the International Criminal Court. And that's very important,” said Boss.
In addition, part of the allocated funding will be directed to psychosocial assistance to children who have returned from Russia.
“This is vital, as they often return traumatized by treatment by Russian occupation forces and authorities, which may include aggressive indoctrination. ” ” The systematic imposition of certain ideas, doctrines or beliefs, ” the official noted.
The Netherlands also provides support to Ukrainian and international organizations involved in the return of children, in particular Save Ukraine. Save Ukraine is an organization that works to rescue and restore children and families affected by war, as well as to rebuild Ukraine.
“They are rescuing children from the pressure of the Russian occupation and providing tangible, undeniable evidence of the serious crimes that are taking place. The Netherlands continues to support Save Ukraine by funding mental health projects that help vulnerable children return from the occupied territories,” Bos added.