Bild: "Ukrainian Children for Sale Online"

294 children, with their names, ages, physical characteristics, and personality descriptions, are displayed on a Russian website.

The German newspaper Bild alleged that children abducted from Ukraine to Russia have been put up for sale on an internet site, essentially as if they were products.

The site, uncovered by the aid organization Save Ukraine, lists 294 Ukrainian children. Alongside their photos are details such as age, gender, personality traits, and health conditions.

The site appears “like an online slave market” and allows searches by various features. Next to each child’s photo is a short description.

Bild wrote:

"A nightmare no one wants to imagine. And yet, it is real. With their names, ages, hair colors, and eye colors, Ukrainian children are being sold as if they were toys. Abducted, exiled, torn from their homeland."

The article notes that, for example, one boy is described as “docile, sociable, hardworking, interested in sports, with distinct leadership qualities,” while one girl is described as “talented in acting, with a beautiful voice, can dance, and is skilled at reciting poetry and prose.”

According to Save Ukraine president Mykola Kuleba, most of the children come from areas occupied by Russia such as Kherson, Mariupol, and Luhansk.

Kuleba stated that these children are not classic war orphans, claiming that some have had their parents killed, while others have been issued documents declaring them Russian. They were then legally registered in the orphan care system under new identities.

The Ukrainian government claims that since the start of the war, about 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russia, but so far fewer than 400 have been returned to their country.

Source: Bild / Hürriyet