Two Russian-installed Donetsk officials suspected of deporting 31 children to Russia for "medical treatment"

What Happened

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced that two Russian-installed Donetsk occupation officials — Oleksii Kulemzin, 52, the so-called head of Donetsk’s city administration, and Olena Verbovska, 57, the so-called head of Donetsk’s department for children — have been served in absentia with a notice of suspicion for unlawfully deporting 31 Ukrainian children to Russia under the pretext of medical treatment. The charges, under Articles 28.2 and 438.1 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, allege a group acting by prior agreement violated the laws and customs of war; they carry eight to 12 years in prison, and sanctions have been imposed on both suspects. The suspects were identified by the Book of Executioners, a Ukrainian project documenting Russian war criminals. According to Ukrainian investigators and the project, in May 2022 the head of the self-proclaimed 'Donetsk People’s Republic' ordered children relocated to Russia ostensibly for medical treatment; the occupation administration implemented the order. Sixteen boys and 15 girls were moved to the 'Children’s Social Centre', taken by bus to Rostov Oblast in Russia, then flown to the Polyany sanatorium in Moscow Oblast, which is part of the Children’s Medical Centre under the Russian Presidential Administration. The Book of Executioners states the children did not require medical treatment outside the region and there were no hostilities in Donetsk at the time that threatened their lives, so there were no grounds for evacuation. Only six of the 31 children have been brought back to Ukraine; the remaining 25 remain in Russia. In 2024, other participants were also named suspects: so-called 'DPR' head Denys Pushylin, his 'children’s rights adviser' Eleonora Fedorenko, and the director of the 'State Service for Children of the DPR', Svitlana Maiboroda. The Prosecutor General’s Office added that around 6,000 children in temporarily occupied Donetsk Oblast were involved in the Russian military-patriotic movement Yunarmiya between 2019 and 2025, receiving weapons training and preparation for military service, and some joined the Russian armed forces after reaching adulthood.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The case is part of a broader Ukrainian legal and documentation effort focused on the forced transfer and deportation of children from Russian-occupied Donetsk. It maps a specific pipeline: children from Donetsk were moved by bus to Rostov Oblast, then flown to a Moscow Oblast sanatorium under the Russian Presidential Administration, then placed under guardianship rather than returned. By charging occupation officials in absentia, Ukrainian authorities are creating a prosecutorial record around alleged war crimes — including the militarisation of around 6,000 children through Yunarmiya — that may support international accountability efforts and increase pressure on Russian officials involved in child deportation.

Watch For

Watch for Ukrainian court proceedings or in absentia trials against Kulemzin, Verbovska, and previously named suspects Denys Pushylin, Eleonora Fedorenko, and Svitlana Maiboroda; further notices of suspicion in the campaign to document child deportations; announcements from Bring Kids Back UA about efforts to locate and return the remaining 25 children; any Russian government or occupation-administration response to the charges and sanctions; and updated Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office figures on Yunarmiya involvement and recruitment into the Russian armed forces.