GENEVA, March 10 (Reuters) - A U.N. investigation found on Tuesday that Russia's deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children since Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022 amounted to crimes against humanity.
Ukraine says close to 20,000 children have been illegally sent to Russia and Belarus where they are sometimes subject to military training and forced to fight against their own troops.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and five other Russians over illegal deportation of children. Moscow denies it is taking children against their will, saying it has been evacuating people voluntarily to remove them from a war zone.
"In this report, the Commission concluded that crimes against humanity and war crimes by Russian authorities have targeted children, who are among the most vulnerable victims," said the report.
"These crimes have irreversible consequences on their lives and their future."
The report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine studied the cases of 1,205 children from five regions in Ukraine and said that 80% of them have yet to return.
Its work is based on analysis of thousands of documents and submissions from rights groups as well as over 200 interviews, including with families of the missing and some children who made it home.
"The deportations and transfers have originated from various locations across a wide geographic area in Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine, following a well-established pattern of conduct, indicating that these acts have been widespread and systematic," added the report, to be presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday.
It also said that Russian authorities at the highest level of governmenthave helped coordinate the actions.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the report and called on states to increase pressure on Russia to secure the return of deported children.
A spokesperson for Russia's diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S.-funded research last year showed Russia expanded its forced re-education programmes of deported children. U.S. first lady Melania Trump has advocated for their release and has been in touch with Putin's team as part of her work.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Additional reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva and Yuliia Dysa in Kyiv; editing by Miranda Murray and Thomas Seythal)
