The Security Service of Ukraine has documented the crimes of three more ‘officials’ of the russian occupation administration in the temporarily occupied part of Donetsk region involved in the mass deportation of Ukrainian children to the aggressor state.

These include russian citizen Mikhail Kushakov – the so-called ‘former minister of education and science of the donetsk people’s republic’ –and two of his accomplices:

• Aleksei Kulemzin – head of the ‘DNR Donetsk city administration’;
• Olga Volkova – director of the occupied ‘Donetsk Boarding School No. 1’.

According to the investigation, on 18 February 2022, these individuals, acting on orders from the kremlin, organised the illegal transfer of 213 students from the Donetsk General Education Boarding School No. 1 to Rostov region, russia.

With the assistance of the aggressor state, 78 Ukrainian children from the aforementioned institutions were placed in the care of russian families. They still reside on the territory of russia.

As a result, the officials violated Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which prohibits the forcible transfer or deportation of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the occupying power.

Based on the evidence collected by the Security Service, these three perpetrators have been notified in absentia of suspicion under Articles 28.2 and 438.1 of the CCU (war crimes, committed by a group, by prior conspiracy).

The suspects are hiding in the temporarily occupied part of Ukraine’s territory. Efforts to bring them to justice for crimes against Ukraine are underway.

The investigation was carried out under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office.