Senior MPs, human rights groups, and war crimes campaigners are calling on the UK government to sanction two Russian officials accused of abducting and brainwashing thousands of Ukrainian children. The officials, Marina Peschanskaya and Anton Demidov, have not been targeted by British sanctions despite being blacklisted by other countries, according to a report by Metro.
Officials accused of 'industrialised' abduction
Peschanskaya, head of the children's rights watchdog in Sevastopol, occupied Crimea, has openly discussed transporting thousands of children from seized Ukrainian territory. She has spoken about the need to 'reformat' children who arrive from Ukraine, according to pro-Kremlin news site PolitNavigator. Demidov, chair of the Young Guard of United Russia (MGER), has led efforts to recruit thousands into his nationalistic youth wing, which has been accused of brainwashing and militarising children.
Alicia Kearns, Shadow National Security and Safeguarding Minister, said: 'This is not evacuation, it is abduction and a war crime. Russia has industrialised the abduction of children from illegally occupied Ukraine and beaten them through a system designed to brainwash them out of their own identity.' She added: 'The UK cannot claim to stand with Ukraine while the officials responsible go unsanctioned by our government.'
Exhibition highlights alleged crimes
The two officials are among dozens featured in a new art exhibition in central London that highlights alleged crimes committed by Russian forces. Artist Piers Secunda, who has visited Ukraine twice to document Russia's looting of art and abduction of children, is displaying his artwork alongside a feature-length documentary. The exhibition runs at the Fitzrovia Gallery until September 6.
Ukraine has identified close to 20,000 forcibly deported children, but there are fears the true number could be in the hundreds of thousands. Ukraine's 5 AM Coalition has estimated that between 260,000 and 700,000 children have been forcibly taken from eastern Ukraine. As of June 2025, only 1,359 children have been returned.
Calls for UK to align with allies
Peschanskaya has not been sanctioned by the UK, even though her national-level counterpart, Maria Lvova-Belova, has been. Alex Sobel MP, who chairs parliament's Ukraine group, called Peschanskaya's language about 'reformatting' children 'chilling'. He told Metro: 'This is not evacuation or education, but a deliberate attempt to erase who these children are and turn them against their own country.' He urged the UK government to 'align with our European allies by sanctioning her and consider action against every individual and organisation implicated in the abduction, indoctrination, and militarisation of Ukraine's children.'
Demidov has been blacklisted by Canada for his role as chair of the MGER. The group has recruited children from branches across occupied Ukraine, including more than 11,000 in Donetsk alone, according to their Telegram. Demidov personally held an event with children 'evacuated' from Ukraine into Russia at the MGER headquarters, where they were taught about the group's political project PolitZavod and attended a 'Moscow socio-patriotic educational campus'.
Ukraine's Regional Center for Human Rights told Metro that Peschanskaya and Demidov 'have for years been involved in implementing policies aimed at the re-education of Ukrainian children.' They said British measures against the pair would serve as a 'yellow card' warning that their crimes could be followed by prosecution in international courts.
Russia denies allegations
A spokesperson from the Russian Embassy told Metro: 'Russia has nothing to do with the so-called "abduction of Ukrainian children". This politically motivated narrative is exploited by Ukrainian and Western propaganda exclusively to demonise our country.' The spokesperson claimed that minors evacuated from areas of active hostilities were saved from being used as human shields, and that Russia has established a communication channel to help reunite families.
A spokesperson from the Ukrainian Embassy said the country 'strongly supports the imposition of sanctions against individuals and entities involved in the forced deportation, indoctrination and militarisation of Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.' An FCDO spokesperson said: 'We keep sanctions under close review. It is not appropriate to speculate on any future designations as to do so could reduce the impact of the designations.' The FCDO also noted that in May, the UK announced its fifth sanctions package, targeting those involved in the forced deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children, including over 20 new designations, and announced £1.2m funding to support Ukrainian verification and tracing programmes, bringing total funding to £4m.
