Putin's shadow: Children in war - fates beyond the front lines

Putin's shadow: Children in war - fates beyond the front lines

The geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine throw a worrying shadow on the fate of Ukrainian children. Since the beginning of the war, around 20,000 children have been deported from Ukraine to Russia since the beginning of the war. These cruel deeds are considered war crimes, which led to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court against Vladimir Putin and the child rights officer Marija Lwowa-Belowa. In her documentaries, director Sarah McCarthy illuminates the tragic fates of these children and shows the dark reality that they had to go through. In a world in which parental ties are torn apart by political power games, McCarthy describes how they give hope of the hope that many of these fled children have through a rehabilitation center in Estonia despite their traumatic experiences.

international adoptions in focus

Switzerland plans to ban international adoptions after serious grievances have been uncovered in the past. This was announced on February 18, 2025. Between the 1970s and 1990s, several thousand children were illegally adopted, and the authorities were aware of the unethical practices. Philip Jaffé, from the UN Committee for the rights of the child, warns that such bans cannot fully solve the problem. There are always loopholes that enable children to continue adopted adequately, since Swiss laws do not cover the circumstances in other countries.

The debate about international adoptions is a dark picture: not only the question of ethics is in the room, but also the questionable machinations that lurk behind such practices. Jaffé describes how ethical action is made almost impossible in this area. In this context, the situation in Russia and the politically motivated decisions that affect child protection and educational rights are particularly explosive. The reports on the deportation of Ukrainian children and a possible risk of abuse in adoptions raise alarming questions that require a solution that goes beyond mere legal bans.

like McCarthy illustrated, children are too often caught in a victim role in political arguments, and their stories are not only tragic, but also a call for action for the international community.

Kleine Zeitung reports href = "https://www.swissinfo.ch/aussenpolitik/warum-l%C3%A4NDER-INTERNATURE-ADOPTIONS-BANNEN/88890426"> Swissinfo.ch for adoption problem