On 2 December, Ruby Mae Axelson, Lead of Gender and Child Justice at Global Rights Compliance (GRC), joined members of the Council of Europe Consultation Group on the Children of Ukraine (CGU) for the 8th Plenary, which included discussions on many different issues children of Ukraine face, wherever they are. This ranged from the impact of war on children with disabilities to bullying in educational settings in Council of Europe member states to a discussion on accountability for crimes committed against children during Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
In this context, Ruby spoke in the session on the indoctrination and militarisation of Ukrainian children in the temporarily occupied territories, where she presented GRC’s Legal Roadmap — a framework designed to help justice actors understand and address the system of criminality affecting children in occupied areas.
“Conduct akin to the indoctrination and militarisation inflicted on Ukrainian children has never been prosecuted internationally. Our Legal Roadmap seeks to guide Ukrainian prosecutors in understanding how this system operates — and how it can be legally addressed in a child-sensitive, trauma-informed and victim-centred way.”
— Ruby Mae Axelson, Gender and Child Justice Lead, GRC
Ruby underscored the systemic nature of Russia’s efforts to irreversibly alter the identity of Ukrainian children through policies that target their language, culture, psychological development, and sense of belonging. She outlined four interlinked components of this system:
- The imposition of Russian education standards designed to replace Ukrainian curricula, history, and language.
- The militarisation of childhood, including through youth organisations and cadet programmes promoting militarised identity.
- The deportation and forcible transfer of children, often accompanied by unlawful adoption and the severing of family ties.
- The ill-treatment of children perceived to be pro-Ukrainian, including harassment, intimidation, and arbitrary detention.
“It is imperative that we take a broad view of Russification and consider the full range of harm inflicted on Ukrainian children — whether through the forced replacement of their education, increased militarisation, or their unlawful deportation and adoption.”
— Ruby Mae Axelson
GRC remains committed to supporting Ukrainian and international justice actors in ensuring accountability for crimes committed against children — and in safeguarding the rights, identity, and future of every Ukrainian child.
GRC is part of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine (ACA). The ACA is a multilateral initiative established by the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States to support and assist Ukrainian law enforcement and prosecutors in investigating and prosecuting international crimes committed during a full-scale war.