Starting next week, Russians will begin to take away children in maternity hospitals from those parents who do not have Russian citizenship. A new brutal wave of repression is expected in the territories occupied by Russia. Russians are threatening to kidnap babies in maternity hospitals. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported this , citing the head of the Lugansk regional administration Artem Lysogor. 

Moscow is crossing all boundaries within the framework of the program of forced passportization of citizens. From May 6, babies will be confiscated from families who have not received Russian citizenship directly in maternity hospitals. The occupiers are actively announcing such measures. 

"In hospitals in the occupied Luhansk region they are threatening to seize newborn children from their mothers if neither of the parents has Russian citizenship ,” ISW reported. According to the resource, having a Russian passport will be a prerequisite for discharge from the maternity hospital. At the moment, no such incidents have been recorded; the Russians are so far limiting themselves to threats. 

However, during the war, the Russian Federation actively resorted to mass deportations and abductions of Ukrainians, including children. It was for this crime that the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. 

According to ISW, the removal of children from parents with “incorrect” citizenship, according to the Kremlin, is a violation of Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide. It can be qualified as a deliberate reduction in the birth rate within a national group.