In March 2023, in an unprecedented decision, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, effectively barring the Russian President from participating in Western politics. Alongside Putin, a much lesser figure was indicted: Marya Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights. Both were accused of unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. With that sensational decision, one of the touchiest and the most controversial subplots of the Russian war with Ukraine has been brought front and center to the public’s attention. 

Interweaving piercing personal stories with broader social and political context, using both materials exclusively obtained by authors and data gathered by international investigating teams, “Stolen Youth” paints a full picture of the Russian plan to deport (at least) thousands of Ukrainian children and to forcefully change their national and cultural identities, but also presents stories of great defiance and resolve demonstrated by children themselves and their parents and legal guardians who risked their lives to return them home. The book builds many heartbreaking, encouraging and enraging personal stories into a concise narrative, presenting, for the first time, a comprehensive account of the Russian kidnapping system and the systemic and individual attempts to disrupt it. 

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