On June 20, 2023, russia’s Duma voted to create a parliamentary committee to investigate alleged crimes committed by the Ukrainian government against juveniles in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions since 2014, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
The Duma is almost certainly responding to the international condemnation of russia’s deportation of children from temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine since the full-scale invasion.
Read more: Chronicle of the russian federation Crimes in Ukraine (June 2023)
According to the UK Defense Intelligence, the move is highly likely both a form of “lawfare” and contributes to russian information operations, weaponising legislation by attempting to muddy the narrative around its own egregious actions.
Messaging around children’s rights is likely an important communications theme for the Kremlin because alleged child deportations formed the basis of the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against President Putin issued in March 2023.
Read more: Chronicle of the russian federation Crimes in Ukraine (May 2023)
