Blinken: Over a million Ukrainians deported in Russian ‘filtration’ operation

Russia has deported 900,000 to 1.6 million Ukrainians from Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine in a systemic “filtration” operation, according to a statement released Wednesday by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Russian authorities have interrogated and detained hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians, according to the State Department. About 260,000 children have been forced out of their homes, with some separated from their families and sent to isolated regions in Russia’s Far East, Blinken said, citing various sources, including the Russian government.

There are also reports of children being taken from orphanages and put up for adoption in Russia, the statement said.

“The unlawful transfer and deportation of protected persons is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians and is a war crime,” Blinken said, drawing parallels to past Russian filtration operations in Chechnya and other areas.

“President Putin’s ‘filtration’ operations are separating families, confiscating Ukrainian passports, and issuing Russian passports in an apparent effort to change the demographic makeup of parts of Ukraine,” he said.

The statement also cites witness accounts of Russian authorities transporting tens of thousands of people to detention facilities in Donetsk, a Russian-controlled region in eastern Ukraine. Many have reportedly been tortured.

Witnesses have also reported threats, harassment and torture by Russian security forces, according to the State Department.

Moscow is alleged to have stored biometric and personal data of civilians and subjected them to invasive searches. The statement notes that some Ukrainians have been coerced into signing agreements to stay in Russia.