A political ally of Vladimir Putin has adopted a child he took from a children's home in Ukraine, according to documents revealed by the BBC .
Sergei Mironov, the 70-year-old leader of a Russian political party, has adopted a two-year-old daughter, who was taken in 2022 by a woman he is now married to. The records show that the girl's identity has been changed in Russia. Mironov did not respond to requests for comment.
The girl, originally named Margarita, was one of 48 children who disappeared from the Kherson Orphanage when Russian forces took control of the city. They are among about 20,000 children who, according to the Ukrainian government, have been captured by Russian forces since the full-scale occupation began in 2022.
Earlier this year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for allegedly illegally deporting Ukrainian children to territory controlled by Russia, with the intention of removing them from their country forever.
The Russian government says it did not deport the Ukrainian children, but evacuated them to protect them from the war. The mystery surrounding Margarita began when a woman appeared at the Kherson Children's Hospital, where the 10-month-old baby was being treated for bronchitis in August 2022.
Margarita's mother had relinquished custody shortly after her birth and her father's whereabouts were unknown. The woman introduced herself as "in charge of children's affairs from Moscow".
Within a week, Margarita was discharged from the hospital. The next morning, the staff at the children's home were asked to get the little girl ready. That day several men in military-style pants, one with dark glasses and carrying a bag had arrived to pick up the girl.
Seven weeks later, Igor Kastyukevich, a Russian deputy dressed in military uniform, arrived at the children's home and, with other officials, began organizing the deportation of the remaining children, including Margarita's half-brother Maxym.
For five months, the BBC has been trying to trace Margarita and the other 47 children, working with Victoria Novikova. Finding missing children in a country as large as Russia, a country of more than 17 million square km, is no easy task.
The first task was to identify the mysterious woman who visited Margarita in the hospital last August. Victoria discovered a Russian document authorizing Margarita's transfer to a Moscow hospital for medical tests. In this way they found who had taken Margarita, it was Inna Varlamova.
After further research, it was discovered that Varlamova works in the Russian parliament. According to a Russian source, Varlamova was recently married to political party leader Sergei Mironov.
Mironov, a former paratrooper, is the leader of the Just Russia Party, part of the opposition and a supporter of President Putin. It has been sanctioned by a number of Western countries, including the UK and the EU.
The Geneva Convention, which defines what constitutes a war crime, states that it is illegal to expel civilians in time of war, unless it is essential for reasons of security or military imperative and is temporary.
The Convention also prohibits changing the child's family status. The Children's Home has written to Sergey Mironov and Inna Varlamova about where Margarita is now, but they have not responded.
Almost all of the other children who were taken are believed to remain in Russian hands. At least 17 are in Crimea, according to Russian authorities. Everyone has relatives in Ukraine, says Victoria Novikova.
Ukraine says it has identified 19,546 children who were sent to Russia. She claims that fewer than 400 have returned. Meanwhile, Russia has denied these figures. (A2 Televizion)
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