Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union on behalf of ten Ukrainian children v. Russia
European Court decides to hold a hearing on Ukrainian children from Crimean childcare institutions officially unaccounted for since 2014.
The ECHR has decided to hold a hearing on 22 September 2026 in the case Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union on behalf of ten Ukrainian children v. Russia.
The case concerns ten Ukrainian children who were living in childcare institutions in Crimea in 2014 when Russia asserted jurisdiction over the peninsula. According to the association (UHHRU) acting on their behalf, Russian nationality was imposed on the children and they were put up for adoption and may have been adopted. There has been no information on their whereabouts since 2014, despite the Ukrainian authorities’ repeated requests. UHHRU allege that this effectively amounts to the children’s enforced disappearance.