September sanctions wave: US and Canada target individuals and legal entities involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children

September 2026 marked a significant escalation in international efforts to hold individuals and legal entities accountable for the illegal deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children, with coordinated legal and sanctions mechanisms deployed by the United States, Canada, and European allies.

The most profound structural shift came from Washington. On 18 September, US President Donald Trump signed into law H.R. 5334, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. The new statute creates a legal mechanism by explicitly defining the forced deportation of children as a serious human rights abuse, categorising it alongside unjust detainment, torture and enforced disappearances.

Crucially, the US law targets not only direct perpetrators but also those “indirectly” involved, effectively threatening sanctions against the vast network of Russian officials, guardianship structures, and transport operators facilitating child removals.

The initiative of the president of Ukraine, Bring Kids Back UA, called this move “a significant step towards accountability for Russia’s deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children”. The law does not automatically designate specific individuals or organisations. It creates a statutory mechanism that must now be translated into concrete decisions, the initiative noted.

Earlier in the month, Canada, which co-chairs the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, imposed sanctions on eight senior Russian figures. Effective 4 September, the Canadian designations target individuals across Russia’s state apparatus, including Minister of Emergency Situations Aleksandr Kurenkov and Rosmolodezh head Grigory Gurov. The list also extends to regional occupation officials and youth movement leaders, such as the chairman of the “Movement of the First,” who execute the militarisation and indoctrination of Ukrainian youth in occupied territories.

These measures were followed on 28 September by a new European Union sanctions package. The EU designated 10 individuals and 17 entities responsible for the systematic deportation and ideological indoctrination of Ukrainian children, targeting occupation-installed education officials and state-backed entities like the Moscow City Tourism Committee.

The European Union has imposed sanctions against the following individuals responsible for the illegal deportation, forced transfer, and indoctrination of Ukrainian children:

• Oleg Ivanovich Sladkevich. Date of birth: 22.10.1970. Function: Director of Horlivka School No 42, so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic”; Deputy leader of the “United Russia” party in the Horlivka City Council in the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic”, Ukraine.
• Rustam Nurgaliyevich Minnikhanov. Date of birth: 1.3.1957. Function: President of the Republic of Tatarstan.
• Aleksandr Mikhailovich Kalyagin. Date of birth: 5.4.1972. Function: Minister of Education and Science of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
• Oleg Vladimirovich Trofimov. Date of birth: 2.3.1986. Function: Acting Minister of Education and Science of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic”.
• Irina Viktorivna Kravchenko. Date of birth: 18.5.1979. Function: Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Russian-occupied Kherson region of Ukraine (occupation administration).
• Ali Osmanovich Chomaev. Function: Founder and director of the children’s camp “Adel”, Dombay, Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Russia.
• Maksim Nikolayevich Shvets. Date of birth: 5.9.1993. Function: Minister of Sports and Tourism of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic”.
• Renard Vladimirovich Kutkovsky. Date of birth: 1.5.1983. Function: Deputy Head of the Administration of the City of Yalta in the so-called “Republic of Crimea”, Ukraine; Former Head of the Department of Education and Youth Policy of the Administration of the city of Yalta in the so-called “Republic of Crimea” (from 2015 to 2024).
• Anna Stanislavovna Molchanova. Date of birth: 29.1.1989. Function: Head of the regional branch of the “Movement of the First” in the City of Sevastopol.
• Svetlana Edislavovna Bespalova. Date of birth: 15.4.1969. Function: Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Youth of the so-called “Republic of Crimea”.

Furthermore, the European Union has applied restrictive measures to the following legal entities and organisations facilitating these crimes:

• Songdowon International Children’s Camp.
• All-Russian Children’s Centre “Ocean”.
• Preobrazhensky Defence and Sports Centre.
• Sports and Recreation Complex “Romashka”.
• The Moscow City Tourism Committee.
• LLC “Art-Quest”.
• LLC Children’s Health Complex “Sputnik”.
• Children’s camp “Sunny Beach”.
• FSBI “DOP ‘Raduga'”.
• LLC “Centre for Children and Youth Programmes ‘Mir'”.
• LLC “Leto”.
• LLC “Otdykh-71”.
• LLC Sanatorium “Vita”.
• LLC Children’s Health Complex “Signal”.
• LLC Children’s Centre “Kotlostroitel”.
• The Centre for the Study of the Youth Environment and Monitoring of Networks.
• Children’s Health and Education Centre “Brigantine”.

Together, these measures signal a tightening grip on the extensive bureaucratic and logistical network enabling Russia’s child deportation policies, shifting the focus toward broader accountability for all facilitators involved.

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