The European Parliament, during a plenary session in Brussels on Thursday, 12 November 2026, adopted a resolution calling for Russia’s actions against Ukrainian children to be recognised as genocide and stressing that their return cannot be a subject of political bargaining in peace negotiations.
The document was supported by 536 MEPs, with 8 voting against and 37 abstaining. The resolution states: “The European Parliament declares that Russia’s actions against Ukrainian children meet the legal definition of genocide and calls on EU Member States to formally recognise them as such.”
MEPs referred to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Under the Convention, the forcible transfer of children from one national, ethnic, racial or religious group to another, with the intent to destroy that group in whole or in part, constitutes an act of genocide.
The Parliament strongly condemned the systematic deportation, forcible transfer, illegal adoption, forced Russification, ideological indoctrination and militarisation of Ukrainian children. It demanded that Russia immediately, safely and unconditionally return all deported and forcibly transferred children to Ukrainian territory controlled by Kyiv. “The return of children is an obligation under international law and must never be used as a bargaining chip or made conditional upon territorial concessions, prisoner exchanges or other political agreements,” the text emphasises.
According to figures cited in the resolution, as of September 2026, 20,651 cases of deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children had been confirmed. As of 28 October, 2,752 children had been returned. At the same time, MEPs estimate that around 1.6 million Ukrainian children remain in Russian-occupied territories, where they are subjected to systematic Russification, indoctrination and militarisation.
The Parliament reaffirmed its full support for the International Criminal Court and the arrest warrants issued against Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for the war crime of the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children. It also called for expanded sanctions against the entire system involved in these crimes, including not only officials but also state-owned corporations.
