President Volodymyr Zelensky has enacted the decision of the National Security and Defense Council to impose sanctions on Russian officials involved in the abduction and export of Ukrainian children.

The draft decision was developed by the Ministry of Reintegration, taking into account proposals submitted by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

The sanctions primarily concern Russians who facilitated the forced displacement, abduction and transfer of Ukrainian citizens and their children to the aggressor state, as well as helped to transfer Ukrainian children to Russian families.

The institution of the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation was used for the illegal transfer of Ukrainians and their children. Therefore, sanctions were imposed on a number of regional representatives of the Ombudsmen for Children’s Rights and Human Rights Ombudsmen of the Russian Federation. They were the ones who ensured the deportation and “placement” of Ukrainian orphans in foster families in Russia.

In total, the National Security and Defense Council’s decision imposes sanctions on 109 individuals and 7 legal entities for a period of 50 years. The special economic and other restrictive measures include, among other things, the freezing of assets and the request to foreign states to ban them from obtaining visas to travel abroad.

The NSDC decision instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to inform the competent authorities of the EU, the US and other countries about the application of sanctions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also to raise with foreign states the issue of introducing similar restrictive measures against such persons.