Ukrainian security service summons Saldo and two others over alleged abduction of three pupils

Hvorfor det er viktig

The SBU and prosecutors classify the case as a war crime committed by prior agreement and say the removal breached Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits forced displacement of persons protected by the occupied territory. The pupils were not returned home after the holidays and were later enrolled without parental consent at an institution controlled by the occupying authorities, where they were exposed to Russian propaganda and Russian identity. All three were ultimately returned to Ukraine, although the date of their return remains unspecified. Saldo and his accomplices are hiding in temporarily occupied territory, so the charges were announced in absentia and accountability measures continue.

Hva som skjedde

On 7 October 2022, Volodymyr Saldo and two accomplices allegedly organised the illegal removal of three minor pupils of the Kherson Professional Court Building Lyceum to occupied Crimea. The children were moved by bus to a river port, then by boat to the left bank of Kherson region, where additional transport awaited them for travel to the peninsula. They were first accommodated at the Druzhba children's camp in Yevpatoria and later transferred to another camp. After the holidays ended, they were not sent home. In January 2023, they were enrolled without their parents' consent at the Kerch Marine Technical College, controlled by the occupying authorities, where military-patriotic activities were organised and Russian propaganda and a Russian identity were imposed on them.

Saldo reportedly ordered the occupying "Ministry of Education" to organise the transfer of children from educational institutions in Kherson region, and school administrators were instructed to send pupils on holiday leave. Viktor Loginov, a former Russian army serviceman and deputy director of the lyceum at the time, helped organise the removal and entered fictitious or false information in the school's records to conceal it. Mykola Dolzhenko, a teacher at the occupied lyceum, accompanied the pupils throughout the route to Crimea.

Investigators from the SBU's Main Investigation Department, under the procedural supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor General, notified Saldo and the two accomplices in absentia of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of Ukraine's Criminal Code, concerning war crimes committed by prior agreement as a group. The maximum penalty under the provision is 12 years of imprisonment. All three children were eventually returned to Ukraine with the involvement of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative and the Save Ukraine civic organisation, but the date of their return was not specified.

Slik beskriver ukrainske kilder det

Ukrainian sources describe in detail the transport route, the subsequent stay of the children in camps and at the Kerch college, the imposition of Russian identity, and the role attributed to each named suspect. The legal emphasis falls on the violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and on classification of the conduct under the Criminal Code provisions on war crimes. Reports stress that the pupils were taken without parental consent, were not returned home after the holidays, and were drawn into military-patriotic activities and Russian propaganda. The return of the children is presented as the result of cooperation between the Bring Kids Back UA initiative and the Save Ukraine civic organisation.

Der framstillingene spriker

Sources differ on who entered the fictitious or false information into the records: Saldo, Viktor Loginov, or both. They also present different contexts for the removal — the direct organisation of transferring three lyceum pupils, or a broader instruction to the occupying "Ministry of Education" to move children from educational institutions in Kherson region.

Bakgrunn

On 7 October 2022, Saldo and two accomplices moved pupils of the Kherson Professional Court Building Lyceum to Crimea via a river port and boats. Loginov, a former Russian army serviceman and deputy director of the lyceum, helped organise the transfer and entered fictitious or false data in the records. Dolzhenko, a teacher at the occupied school, accompanied the pupils throughout the route. The children were placed in the Druzhba children's camp in Yevpatoria, later transferred to another camp, and in January 2023 enrolled without parental consent at the Kerch Marine Technical College.