Ukraine charges Saldo and two others over alleged forced transfer of students to Crimea
Ukrainian authorities have notified Volodymyr Saldo and two accomplices in absentia of suspicion over the illegal transfer of three minor pupils from Kherson to occupied Crimea in October 2022. The SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office classify the alleged actions as a war crime and say they violated the Fourth Geneva Convention's ban on forced displacement.
Key points
- Three pupils of the Kherson Professional Court Building Lyceum were taken to occupied Crimea without their parents' consent on 7 October 2022.
- Volodymyr Saldo, former Russian serviceman Viktor Loginov and teacher Mykola Dolzhenko are suspected of organizing the transfer.
- The pupils were transported by bus to a river port, then by boat across the Dnipro before continuing to the peninsula.
- The children were placed at the Druzhba camp in Yevpatoria, later transferred to another camp and enrolled at the Kerch Marine Technical College in January 2023.
- The suspects were notified in absentia under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of Ukraine's Criminal Code.
- The alleged violations involve Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits forced displacement from occupied territory.
- All three children were eventually returned to Ukraine, but the date of their return has not been specified.
Why it matters
The case treats the transfer and continued detention of Ukrainian children in occupied Crimea as an alleged war crime involving forced displacement. The children remained in Crimea after their holidays ended, were subsequently enrolled in an occupation-controlled college and were exposed to Russian propaganda and an imposed Russian identity. All three were eventually brought back to Ukraine, but the three suspects remain in occupied territory and are being pursued in absentia.
What happened
On 7 October 2022, Saldo and two accomplices allegedly organized the removal of three minor students from the Kherson Professional Court Building Lyceum to occupied Crimea without their parents' consent. The pupils were taken by bus to a river port and then by boat to the left bank of Kherson region, where further transport took them to the peninsula. They were first accommodated at the Druzhba children's camp in Yevpatoria and later moved to another camp. In January 2023, the authorities enrolled them without parental consent at the Kerch Marine Technical College, controlled by the occupying administration, where they participated in military-patriotic activities and encountered Russian propaganda and efforts to impose a Russian identity. All three children were eventually returned to Ukraine with the involvement of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative and the Save Ukraine civic organization, although the exact return date was not specified. Ukrainian investigators allege that Loginov and Saldo entered fictitious data in the lyceum's records to conceal the movement. SBU investigators, under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General's Office, classified the actions as war crimes committed by prior agreement as a group.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian sources emphasize the unauthorized nature of the transfer, the failure to return the children home after the holidays and their later enrollment in an occupation-controlled educational institution. They also focus on the alleged violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the criminal classification of the transfer as a war crime. The return of all three children is presented as the result of cooperation between Bring Kids Back UA and Save Ukraine.
Where reporting differs
Ukrainian sources differ over who entered the fictitious or false information used to conceal the transfer: Saldo, Viktor Loginov or both. They also provide two levels of context for the operation: the direct organization of the three lyceum pupils' removal, or a broader order from Saldo to the occupation-controlled education ministry to move children from educational institutions across Kherson region.
Background
According to reports, Saldo ordered the occupation-controlled education ministry in October 2022 to organize the transfer of children from schools across Kherson region to Crimea. School leaders were instructed to send pupils on holiday leave, with holidays announced to facilitate their movement. Loginov, then deputy director of the lyceum and a former serviceman in the Russian military, helped organize the transfer and alter the institution's records. Dolzhenko, a teacher at the occupied lyceum, accompanied the pupils throughout their journey to Crimea.