Kidnapped from a children’s home in Kherson: Did Putin’s friend “adopt” a Ukrainian baby?

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Little Margarita Prokopenko (2) was only ten months old when she was kidnapped from Ukraine. The girl was abducted to Russia and given up for adoption, like thousands of other children since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For a long time, no one knew where the little girl was.

The latest BBC investigation now shows: A close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin (71) is apparently closely involved in the ‘adoption’ of Margarita. There is a prominent name on Margarita’s adoption certificate: Sergei Mironov, the 70-year-old leader of the Russian political party “Fair Russia”, is listed on Margarita’s adoption certificate. Mironov is married to the woman who officially adopted Margarita in 2022.

Mother gave up custody of her daughter

The now two-year-old was among 48 children who disappeared from a children’s home in Kherson. The BBC worked with Ukrainian human rights researcher Viktoria Novikova to find out what happened to Margarita and the other children.

According to Novikova’s research, Margarita’s mother gave up custody of her little daughter shortly after her birth – she was placed in the Kherson children’s home. The child was treated in the hospital by pediatrician Natalya Ljutikova in the summer of 2022 for bronchitis.

Mysterious role of woman in purple dress

According to Lyutikova, the mystery of her whereabouts began when a woman in a purple dress showed up at the hospital for a short visit. She introduced herself as ‘head of the children’s department’ in Moscow. Kherson was then under Russian occupation.

Shortly after the woman left, Lyutikova said she received repeated calls from an official who had recently been entrusted with the management of the children’s home. Lyutikova was ordered to prepare Margarita for a “journey” – then Russian soldiers wearing black sunglasses showed up and took Margarita away. “It was like a movie,” one nurse told the BBC.

Researcher Novikova later discovered a document showing that the girl was transferred to a hospital in Moscow for medical tests. A woman named Inna Varlamova was also mentioned on the paper. The doctor identified her as the mysterious woman in the purple dress who had appeared at the children’s home in Kherson. Varlamova is married to Mironov. As the Russian research portal “Important Stories” reports, Margarita was adopted by Mironov and Varlamova in December 2022, renamed Marina Mironova and given Russian citizenship.

“False hysteria of Ukrainians”

Mironov himself called the report fake. “I don’t see the point in responding to a new false hysteria unleashed by the Ukrainian security services and their Western proxies,” he told RTVI.

It is suspected that Russia has systematically abducted at least 20,000 Ukrainian children. Earlier this year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against President Putin and his Children’s Rights Representative, Maria Lvowa-Belova, for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russian-controlled areas with the intention of permanently removing them from their country . delete your own country.

The Russian government says it is not deporting Ukrainian children, but evacuating them to protect them from war. (a man)

Source: Blick