Lubinets calls for appeal against Italian court ruling on adoption of Ukrainian child

According to Ukrinform, Lubinets made this statement on Facebook.

“An Italian court has violated the international adoption system by placing a Ukrainian child with a foreign family. We demand the child’s return and an appeal of the decision!” Lubinets urged.

He noted that Ukraine has a moratorium on international adoptions. This ban is due to the war and is intended to protect evacuated and forcibly displaced Ukrainian children.

“The child—a citizen of Ukraine—was evacuated to the Italian Republic in 2022. Evacuation is a temporary measure of protection. However, the Juvenile Court of Lecce (Apulia region) ruled in favor of her adoption by foreign citizens. The critical issue is that the child’s father went missing while defending Ukraine! The mother is alive and has not been deprived of her parental rights,” Lubinets reported.

According to him, this decision grossly violates international standards for the protection of children’s rights. After all, the priority is clear: keeping the child with her family and in her country of birth. But, Lubinets emphasized, in this specific case, the Italian court not only ignored the moratorium but also the fact that the child has a family: a mother and biological sisters!

“In fact, the Italian court disregarded the parents’ actual involvement in the case, limiting itself to a formal acknowledgment of their ‘presence in absentia’—including the father! Moreover, the child was separated from her biological sisters, who have already been returned to Ukraine. This is a deliberate destruction of the family, a violation of the child’s right to maintain family ties, and a disregard for international law,” Lubinets emphasized.

In addition, according to Lubinets, the Italian court’s decision was preceded by systematic violations: the removal of Ukrainian legal representatives, the appointment of foreign guardians, and restrictions on Ukrainian diplomats’ access to the children. Systemic problems have been documented in countries such as Germany and Switzerland.

“I would like to emphasize separately: according to my information, similar risks have been identified regarding another 82 children from the Chynadiyevo preschool educational institution (boarding-type orphanage), the ‘Emerald City’ Sanatorium and Health Center for Social Rehabilitation, and the Sumy Orphanage named after S.P. Suprun,” added Lubinets.

Overall, regarding this adoption case, the Ukrainian Ombudsman’s position is unequivocal:

• the Italian court’s decision must be immediately appealed;
• the adoption of Ukrainian children by foreigners is unacceptable;
• the child must be immediately returned to Ukraine to her mother;
• children who were evacuated abroad must be returned.

“As the Ombudsman of Ukraine, I have repeatedly appealed to the Ukrainian Government and relevant regional authorities regarding the importance of returning all children who are citizens of Ukraine to their homeland and to Ukrainian families in safe territories. It is extremely important to support the families of biological parents or to establish guardianship by other family members of the children, where possible,” Lubinets stated.

He also sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Ukraine requesting immediate action to reunite the family and return all Ukrainian children to their homeland. The letter specifically mentions involving other government agencies in this case, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Efforts were also made at the international level— Lubinets reached out to: Pina Picerno, Vice-President of the European Parliament, to bring this issue before the European Parliament; Tordis Kolbrun Reikfjord Hilfadottir, Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the situation of children in Ukraine; the President of the National Coordination of Ombudsmen of Italy, Ombudsman of the Lazio Region Marino Fardelli; the European Network of Ombudsmen for Children (ENOC); and the Italian Directorate for Children and Adolescents.

In Italy, this case is being monitored directly by Oles Horodetskyi, an advisor to the Commissioner in that country.

“I am sincerely grateful to all countries for providing shelter to Ukrainian children from institutional care facilities on their territories. Thanks to the efforts of our international partners, it has become possible to ensure decent living conditions, access to medical and rehabilitation services, as well as an adequate level of safety for our children during this difficult time for Ukraine. At the same time, the relocation of children abroad was a necessary step, not a basis for changing their legal status or adoption,” Lubinets emphasized.

He called on the international community to respond immediately.

“A Ukrainian child must return home, to their family, to their mother and sisters! We cannot allow this gross violation of international humanitarian law to stand,” Lubinets concluded.

As reported by Ukrinform, following a journalistic investigation revealing that children from the Kherson orphanage are being offered for adoption in a Russian “database,” Lubinets called on international partners to help the Ukrainian side locate the children and act as intermediary countries.