SBU serves suspicion notices to five Kremlin proxies in occupation - 367 children deported from Ukraine

Five Russian occupiers involved in the illegal deportation of 367 Ukrainian children to Russia have been served with a notice of suspicion. This was reported by Security Service of Ukraine and Office of the Prosecutor General.

The case concerns Mikhail Kushakov, a Kremlin protege who was allegedly responsible for education and science in the DPR terrorist organization, and four of his accomplices:

→ Ihor Lyzov, a gauleiter in the Amvrosiivka district of the temporarily occupied Donetsk region.

→ Oksana Plotnytska, the head of the seized Amvrosiyivka boarding school No. 4.

→ Lilia Bilyk (Doskina), Plotnytska's deputy.

→ Iryna Shetelya, the head of the seized Vuhlehirsk special boarding school No. 6.

According to the case file, on February 19, 2022, the defendants, on behalf of the Kremlin, took 223 children from boarding school No. 4 and 11 more from Dokuchaevskaya special boarding school No. 27 to the Kursk region.

On the same day, the occupiers deported another 130 Ukrainian children - pupils of boarding school No. 6 - to the Rostov region.

on March 15 of the same year, Russian proxies deported three more students of boarding school No. 4 to the Kursk region.

Law enforcement officers found that 159 deported children were placed under the care of Russian families and are still in Russia.

The SBU noted that the occupiers had violated the requirements of the Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which prohibits the forced relocation or deportation of protected persons.

The five defendants were served in absentia with a notice of suspicion of committing war crimes by prior conspiracy. They are currently hiding in the temporarily occupied part of Ukraine.

• on September 16, it was reported that the United States had discovered 150 new seatswhere Russia conducted "military training" for children from Ukraine. In total, there are 250 such places in Russia.
• on November 4, intelligence reported that Russia purchased 18,000 drones, to teach students "combat experience".
• on November 13, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had installed about 400 seats the whereabouts of abducted children.