Ukraine's stolen generations

: the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children as cultural genocide

Abstract

The present dissertation focuses on the case study of the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children, carried out by the Russian Federation in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In light of the decision of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants qualifying these acts as war crimes, the aim of this analysis is to shed light on this practice of forcibly transferring children, proposing that such acts constitute another international crime: the crime of genocide, in the form of cultural genocide. To this end, this dissertation examines the relationship between these concepts through the study of the historical origins of the crime of genocide and its evolution to the formulation adopted in the Genocide Convention, as well as by examining the available evidence to establish the requirements for the commission of the crime.

Date of Award	7 Jul 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	José Azeredo Lopes (Supervisor)