Enrique del Olmo
On November 28, the European (RESU) and Iberian (RISU) Network of Solidarity with Ukraine was presented in Madrid . The solidarity networks are groups of activists and collectives that, in connection with Ukrainian emigration organizations, develop support, awareness-raising and solidarity activities with the population and with the Ukrainian resistance. On September 13, they accompanied a delegation of Ukrainian unions and their visit, seeking the solidarity of Spanish workers and their union organizations, of which the UGT has been the most involved in supporting Ukraine that resists Putin's aggression.
A halo of concern and a certain hopelessness runs through Ukrainians who see how the support of countries is insufficient and how the solidarity of the people is not clearly expressed. The same expansion of the networks is met with difficulties and often the lack of understanding of those sectors that, in general, are inclined to solidarity when talking about Putin's imperialist aggression; others look the other way or wrap their distance in a significant volume of "historical or geopolitical reasons": the character of the Zelensky government, NATO's aggressiveness, the interests of the military industry, dangers for Russia... With this, under a mountain of words, they seek not to clearly and frontally define themselves against Putin's aggression or to do so in a low voice or to limit their solidarity to the essential denunciation of the genocide in Gaza or the criminal government of Netanyahu.
Both wars have in common colonial or imperial expansionism, massacring territories, taking lives and denying the right to existence of the Palestinian or Ukrainian people. Another example of the prevailing cynicism is using the banner of peace to deny support of any kind, including military, to the Ukrainian resistance, ignoring the radical difference between aggressor and victim, and that abandoning support for Ukraine means Putin's victory and the use of the right of "conquest", cutting off Ukrainian territory.
The message we have heard from trade unionists, Ukrainian feminists (in the magnificent documentary on YouTube, With Ukraine, a feminist perspective ), and solidarity organisations is clear: “Europe, peace, the sovereignty of peoples and the rights of individuals are at stake in Ukraine”.
Particularly moving was the testimony given to us by the Ukrainian solidarity organisation in Spain, We Unite Hearts, about the deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia. This is something that reminds us with particular virulence of the deportation processes of Nazism and Stalinism and which continues to make our hair stand on end, and yet it is happening again.
Hundreds of thousands of children were trapped in the occupied territories, where they were subjected to indoctrination and forced Russification; tens of thousands were deported and some were adopted by Russian families, in a quasi-industrial process, perfectly planned, planned and organized by the regime with the help of cadres of the ruling United Russia party. Its aim, in addition to remedying the demographic decline in Russia, is to erase Ukraine from the memory of these children and turn them, at least some, into janissaries who will one day fight against their former homeland.
For Ukraine, for its freedom and ours (PLU) was the first association to alert the French public and government about the deportation and adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia. Its first communication to the International Criminal Court (ICC) greatly contributed to the issuance, on 17 March 2023, of arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and his "Children's Rights Commissioner", Maria Lvova-Belova. The events were then classified by the ICC as a war crime. Since then, during more than a year of investigation, PLU teams, with the support of RussiaLiberties , have examined a thousand documents from the Telegram and VKontakt accounts of the "planners" of the general council of United Russia, Putin's party, and of the coordinators of the occupied regions. This investigation demonstrated the genocidal desire to eradicate the Ukrainian identity from the occupied territories.
It is impossible to quantify the scale of deportations precisely. If before 24 February 2022 there were 7.5 million children in Ukraine, today there are 3.2 million. The rest are refugees in Europe, have died or have been deported to Russia. Cross-referencing sources (Ukrainian, Western and Russian), it is estimated that more than 300,000 children were deported. An even higher figure if we rely on data from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) , which estimates the number of people relocated to Russia at 3 million. Knowing that in 2021, 15% of the population was under 14 years old and 20% under 19 years old, this would represent a total of 450,000 minors. With chilling cynicism, the Russian authorities boast that their "humanitarian actions" have welcomed more than 700,000 people!
Russification is accompanied by incentives and coercive measures . The oath of allegiance is conditional on the renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship. The annexation of the occupied regions, starting with the referendums in September 2022, removes any legal obstacles to the adoption of unaccompanied Ukrainian minors by allowing their expedited naturalization. These provisions are complemented by those of the decree of May 17, 2023 entitled Strategy for the comprehensive security of children until 2030 . Prepared by the Commission for the Protection of Family, Motherhood and Childhood of United Russia, the decree ratifies the practices of the regional occupation authorities. Any refractory person can be detained or deported. The Russification of the territories through schooling has been organized since the school year began on September 1, 2022. The mobilization of all the resources of the Russian state apparatus perfectly illustrates the desire to eradicate Ukrainian identity.
Schools are becoming the primary target of United Russia and the Ministry of National Education . Ukrainian children are faced with an education system entirely subject to "Russian standards." The week begins with the anthem and the raising of the Russian flag. A total overhaul of education, taught exclusively in Russian, with compulsory patriotic lessons, marks the rhythm of the day for Ukrainian youth. Large-scale repression falls on recalcitrant educational staff. Many teachers are "retrained" in specialized centers in Rostov, Crimea or... disappear. The purges affect school directors, but also libraries and museums, in order to restore the "historical truth" so dear to the Ministry of Education in Moscow. Books and textbooks are pouring in from the Russian Federation. Among them, To Live Is to Serve the Fatherland . This work, issued directly by the Orthodox Patriarchate of Russia and classified as a children's book, becomes the new breviary of the educational system. Encourage students to join a patriotic military organization.
The organizational role of United Russia in a planned and systematic process of deportation and forced adoption of Ukrainian minors in Russia is evident in all aspects. A prime target of Russian planners, under the direct responsibility of the Kremlin and Lvova-Belova, unaccompanied minors (girls and boys) have been systematically sought out, since the beginning of the Russian invasion, in institutions in occupied Ukraine. They are then taken in transit to Moscow to be given up for adoption in various regions of Russia. Since the Kremlin does not provide any information, contrary to international standards, it is impossible to know the number of Ukrainian children adopted in Russia. It is possibly higher than estimated by NGOs such as Save Ukraine, which work to identify and try to repatriate them. However, adoptions appear to have decreased since the arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova. The extension of arrest warrants to the entire chain of Russian power officials and the reclassification of the acts as crimes against humanity are an absolute emergency. Pending the ICC's decisions, we will say so on November 20, International Day of the Rights of the Child. Beyond the pressure exerted on the Russian power, this campaign could be an important moment to remind those who constantly talk about geopolitical issues of the monstrosity of the Putin regime and to give essential support to the Ukrainian resistance.