Is there evidence that Ukrainian children were taken away from their parents in Europe? No, that's not true: In Bulgaria, there is a widespread belief in claims of mass abduction of children from their parents in EU countries. However, these claims lack substantial evidence. This theme aligns with the broader Russian narrative portraying the West as an adversary of the family and traditional values.
The story appeared in an article (archived here) published on May 16, 2023, under the title "Children as bargaining chips. They were swopped for tanks."
It opened:
In Europe, refugee children from Ukraine are taken from their families on a grand scale and transferred to foster homes. Western and Ukrainian media do not show the stories about the kidnapped Ukrainian children. Ukrainian diplomats also do not help their compatriots in this matter because they are aiming for the EU.
The original source of the publication is a weekly newspaper based in Moscow, called "Arguments and Facts" (Russian: Аргументы и факты) owned by the Government of Moscow. It is known for spreading pro-Russian disinformation. This is not the first instance that Russian media has disseminated the notion that children of Ukrainian refugees are being separated from their parents in Western Europe.
Before reaching Bulgaria, these stories circulated on a number of Russian news websites as well as on YouTube. The authenticity of personal narratives published in the media, depicting the removal of children from refugee parents, remains unverifiable due to the non-disclosure of information by child protection services regarding the cases they handle. Ukrainian fact-checking platform Stopfake.org examined the claims, however, none of these offices verified the occurrence of such cases. Furthermore, the press office of the German police stated that they had no knowledge of any incidents matching the described claims.
More Lead Stories fact checks of claims related to Ukranian children can be found here.
