ECHR holds public hearing in case of ten Ukrainian children taken from Crimean institutions in 2014
The European Court of Human Rights held a public hearing on 22 September in Strasbourg in case 6719/23, brought by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union on behalf of ten Ukrainian children who were in state childcare institutions in Crimea at the time of the 2014 occupation and whose whereabouts have been unknown since. The Court will rule later on admissibility and merits, while Ukraine's Government Agent called for specific measures under Article 46 of the Convention to force disclosure of the children's fate and their return.
Key points
- Hearing held on 22 September at the ECHR in Strasbourg in case 6719/23, scheduled to begin at 9:15 local time.
- Case concerns ten children born 2009–2013 who were aged 1–5 and under Ukrainian state care in Crimea at the time of the 2014 occupation.
- Applicant is the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU); Russia did not submit observations.
- UHHRU alleges Russian citizenship was imposed on the children, who were placed in Russian adoption and guardianship systems; in 2023 some names disappeared from Russian adoption websites.
- No information on the children's whereabouts has been available since 2014, despite repeated Ukrainian requests; UHHRU characterises the situation as enforced disappearance.
- Applicants invoke Articles 5 and 8 of the European Convention; in February 2023 the Court refused a Rule 39 interim measure, citing Russia's withdrawal from the Convention.
- Ukraine's Government Agent, Margaryta Sokorenko, asked the Court under Article 46 to order Russia to disclose the children's identity and whereabouts and to ensure their return.
- The ECHR will not deliver a final judgment after the hearing; admissibility and merits will be decided later.
- The Court says it remains the only international court examining allegations of serious human rights violations by Russia in Ukraine since 2014.
- UHHRU says more than 4,000 orphans and children deprived of parental care in Crimea were automatically declared Russian citizens after 2014.
Why it matters
The hearing is one of the first ECHR public proceedings focused on individual Ukrainian children removed from state care in occupied Crimea, a pattern UHHRU says has affected more than 4,000 minors since 2014. It also tests whether the Court can hold Russia to account for post-2022 conduct within the Convention framework after Russia's withdrawal, making any ruling a significant precedent. Ukraine used the hearing to seek concrete Article 46 measures, including disclosure of the children's identities and their return, while the ECHR frames itself as the only international court still examining serious human rights allegations by Russia in Ukraine since 2014. The case also feeds into the broader international focus on the deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children, which has been a priority for the Council of Europe's Special Representative.
What happened
On 22 September the European Court of Human Rights held a public hearing in Strasbourg in case 6719/23, brought by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union on behalf of ten children born between 2009 and 2013 who were under Ukrainian state guardianship in children's institutions in Crimea at the time of the 2014 occupation, when they were between one and five years old. UHHRU alleges that after Russia established control over the peninsula, Russian citizenship was imposed on the children and they were entered into Russian adoption and guardianship systems; in 2023 the names of some of them suddenly disappeared from Russian adoption websites. The applicants invoke Articles 5 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and in February 2023 the Court refused a Rule 39 interim measure to stop possible adoptions, citing Russia's withdrawal from the Convention. Russia, notified by the Court in April 2025, did not submit observations. Ukraine's Government Agent, Margaryta Sokorenko, presented Ukraine's position and asked the Court under Article 46 to order Russia to disclose the children's identity and whereabouts and to ensure their return. The Council of Europe's Special Representative on the situation of children of Ukraine, Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, called for keeping the children's fate on the political agenda ahead of the hearing. The Court will not deliver a final judgment after the hearing and will rule later on admissibility and merits.
Where reporting differs
One source describes the ECHR's notification of Russia differently, claiming a March 2025 notification and a subsequent round of questions to the parties in March 2026, whereas other reporting consistently places the notification in April 2025.
Background
Russia ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights in 2022, which shaped the Court's refusal in February 2023 of a Rule 39 interim measure in this case: the Court reasoned that the alleged adoption-related events occurred after Russia's withdrawal. After taking control of Crimea in 2014, Russia extended its own legislation, including adoption rules, to the peninsula and Ukraine lost access to information about children in institutions there. According to UHHRU, more than 4,000 orphans and children deprived of parental care in Crimea were automatically declared Russian citizens and placed in Russian adoption and guardianship systems.