Investigation Into Forced Adoptions From Ukraine Points Finger at Putin

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and senior Kremlin officials “intentionally and directly” authorized a program of coerced fostering and adoption of Ukrainian children during the war in Ukraine, according to a Yale University report that was released on Tuesday.

The report provides strong new evidence for a war crimes case against Putin and other officials, the researchers said.

An investigation by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab identified 314 children from Ukraine who have been placed in a “systematic program of coerced adoption and fostering” since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to the report. It details evidence of direct orders from senior Russian officials, including Mr. Putin, to carry out the adoption program.

“It reveals a higher level of crime than first understood,” the Research Lab, which is part of the Conflict Observatory, a program supported by the U.S. Department of State, said in a statement.

Yale’s investigation could bolster the case against Mr. Putin and his commissioner for children, Maria Lvova-Belova, who were named in an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in March last year for their roles in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The researchers cited what they said were verified leaked Russian documents that they said revealed how senior Russian officials had worked with officials in the occupied regions of Ukraine to carry out the program. The report says the Russian president’s office provided direct financial support and other assets for the program.