When it comes to Ukrainian children stolen to Russia, there is nothing political to debate, this is first and foremost a humanitarian crisis. And no testimony is more essential than that of a mother fighting for her child.
In September 2022, 10-month-old Margarita Prokopenko was taken from Ukraine and transferred to Russia, where she was unlawfully adopted by the Mironov family, headed by Sergei Mironov, a powerful Russian politician and one of Putin’s closest political allies.
Her place of birth was falsified, her passport replaced, and her name changed to “Marina Mironova”. This represents a profound violation of her identity and her rights as a child.
Yesterday, on Rai – Radiotelevisione Italiana, Italy’s main national television outlet, her legal guardian Darina Repina renewed her public appeal to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for support in securing Margarita’s return. Margarita has a mother, a sister, and a home waiting for her in Europe.
As a human rights defender and co-founder of the Emile Foundation, my team and I have been working on this case, and nearly 40 others, for close to two years. Our work focuses on identifying children, verifying their locations, tracing their relatives, and preparing the humanitarian groundwork necessary for their return.
These deportations violate the core pillars of humanitarian and international law. They breach the protections set out in the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Rome Statute, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict, Customary International Humanitarian Law, and the Genocide Convention. These instruments were created to safeguard children in conflict and to prevent exactly this kind of unlawful transfer and identity erasure.
Yesterday, together with Darina, on Italy’s main national TV channel, I appealed to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to continue her engagement, and to use her relationships and influence to ensure that the return of Ukrainian children remains a priority at the highest international level.
This is not geopolitics, this is a humanitarian responsibility.
My sincere thanks to Giulia Bonaudi for her professionalism and sensitivity in covering this story.
