Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children mirrors worst WWII crimes, says Polish UN envoy

Poland's ambassador to the UN, Krzysztof Szczerski, has likened Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children to some of the worst crimes committed during World War II.

At a UN Security Council briefing on Wednesday, Poland's ambassador to the United Nations, Krzysztof Szczerski, highlighted Poland's efforts to support Ukrainian refugee children in preserving their national identity, while condemning Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children as a war crime.

X/@PLinUN

Speaking at a UN Security Council briefing on Wednesday, the Polish diplomat said that Russia's forcible assimilation of Ukrainian children is part of a colonial policy aimed at Russifying them, erasing their identity and replacing it with a new one.

During the debate, Nathaniel Raymond from Yale University presented a report revealing that Russia had abducted 314 children from Ukraine, some of whom were adopted by Russian families or naturalized.

Raymond compared these actions to the Nazi practice of "Germanization" of Polish children.

Szczerski said that Russia's actions in Ukraine constitute war crimes, comparable to the Nazis' abduction of children to Germany.

At the @UN Security Council briefing convened by @USUN, Amb. @KSzczerski underlined that while Russia abducts and forcibly assimilates Ukrainian children, which constitutes a war crime, 🇵🇱 strives to assist 🇺🇦 refugee children in retaining and nurturing their national identity. pic.twitter.com/LBZTDIAfwv

— Poland in the UN (@PLinUN) December 4, 2024

He noted that SS officers were convicted in the so-called RuSHA Trial, which prosecuted Nazi officials responsible for the forced assimilation and displacement of ethnic groups, including the abduction of Polish children.

Photo courtesy @USHMM: Fifteen-year-old Maria Dolezalova is sworn in as a prosecution witness at the RuSHA Trial. Dolezalova was among the children kidnapped by German forces after they destroyed the town of Lidice, Czechoslovakia. Nuremberg, October 30, 1947. pic.twitter.com/3zxhF7kMD6

— WJRO (@WJRORestitution) June 9, 2022

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Source: IAR/PAP/X/@PLinUN/@WJRORestitution