Russian woman seeks to adopt abducted Ukrainian child after her son was killed fighting in war, investigation says
Dorokhina's son was previously killed while fighting against Ukraine, according to the investigation.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, at least 19,500 Ukrainian children have been abducted from occupied territories and transferred to other Russian-controlled areas, Belarus, or Russia itself, according to Ukraine's national database, Children of War.
Dorokhina spoke about her trip and the girl's abduction from Ukraine during a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin at an event, claiming she had "found her daughter" in Kherson Oblast. The child is now under her guardianship.
Suspilne's investigative team identified Dorokhina as a native of Yelets, Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, who moved to occupied Simferopol in Crimea in 2016.
Her husband, Oleksandr Dorokhin, is a former employee of Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service and a veteran of the Chechen war. Her eldest son, Vladislav Dorokhin, served in Russia's Black Sea Fleet before joining the 810th Marine Brigade to fight in Ukraine, Suspilne reported.
Ukraine has so far managed to return 1,240 abducted children, according to the Children of War database.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Putin and Children's Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over their involvement in the unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children.
Human rights groups have said that Russia's mass abductions of Ukrainian civilians, including children, may constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity.
Read also: Russia attempting to gain foothold in Sumy Oblast, Border Guard warns
We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
6 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Russia has been cutting the internet to stop drones — and it's driving a cash comeback
Russians are pulling more cash from banks, partly because of mobile internet outages, the country's central bank has said. The shutdowns, intended to defend against Ukrainian drones, have disrupted mobile payments, messaging apps, delivery services, and ride-hailing platforms, underscoring the economic fallout from Russia's wartime security measures. Cash in circulation rose by about 200 billion rubles, or $2.5 billion, in June and then by the same amount again in July, according to a report from the Bank of Russia issued Monday. The central bank said this year's demand is "slightly higher than in previous years" in part due to "the desire of the population and businesses to form a reserve of cash for settlements" amid the shutdowns, which are meant to disrupt GPS and cellular networks through which drones can be controlled. Vladimir Gutenev, a senior Russian lawmaker, told a pro-government media outlet that people should always have cash to pay for products and services. "You shouldn't become a 'hipster' who lives only in the center of Moscow. Life isn't limited to comfort," Gutenev said. Outages have surged in recent months, from 69 incidents in May to 662 in June and 2,099 in July, per Na Svyazi, an independent monitoring group. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described the outages as protection from "dangerous neighbors." Anastasiia Kruope, assistant researcher for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch, told Business Insider that more Russians were signing up for broadband internet, rather than trying to rely on cellphone data, because of the outages. Shops that use WiFi can process payments, but there are "challenges for smaller shops" that rely on mobile data, she added. Kruope said taxi drivers in some Russian cities have had to park in spots where WiFi is available to contact customers and download their routes in advance. "It's already turning into a big problem for quite a few service providers who are tied to the availability of the mobile internet, in particular," she said. Russia has been advancing plans for a " sovereign internet," testing infrastructure that would allow the government to disconnect the country from the global web and control online access. The wave of internet shutdowns began when Russia cut access across several regions, including Moscow, during its May 9 Victory Day celebrations. A few weeks later, Ukraine launched its "spider web" drone attack, in which it smuggled drones into Russia by truck and launched them to inflict devastating damage on parked warplanes.
6 minutes ago
In Alaska, is Putin offering peace or a trap?: ANALYSIS
LONDON -- Could President Donald Trump's summit this Friday in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin bring a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine? Right now, most observers have far more doubts than hopes. What's clear is the meeting could be a golden opportunity for Putin to influence Trump's vision for how to end the war. Russian media is crowing about the choice of location for the summit -- cheering the idea that Trump and Putin will decide the fate of the war alone and that Alaska's distance from Europe underlines how European countries and Ukraine are being sidelined. Some Russian media commentators also note how Alaska was once Russian territory, sold by Tsar Alexander II to the United States for a pittance in 1867 Many observers, particularly Russian, are dismissing the meeting as a sign Trump has allowed Putin to once again deceive him. They note that Trump threatened Russia with tougher sanctions, but instead Putin now has a summit where he can once more pretend to want peace. They view this as Putin's latest -- and potentially very successful -- gambit to defuse Trump's frustration with him and head off his threat to impose tougher sanctions on Russia. Some Russian analysts have suggested the surprise summit, in fact, is a graceful way for both Putin and Trump to sidestep the awkward issue of Trump's own deadline last week to impose the new sanctions if Russia didn't end the war. Trump, clearly reluctant to do so and aware they might not work, has been able to put them off. "For Trump, it's an opportunity to save face in a situation when he actually has few ways of pressuring Moscow," Farida Rustamova and Margarita Lituova, Russian journalists who closely cover the Kremlin, wrote on their Substack. "For Putin, a personal meeting would help him to maintain a relationship with Trump, who is clearly inclined to sympathize with the Russian position." But there are still some glimmers that perhaps the meeting could move a ceasefire closer. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday said the U.S. has received a signal from Russia that it may be "ready to end the war, or at least to make a first step towards a ceasefire." "This was the first such signal from them," Zelenskyy told reporters. There are indications that the gap between Russia and Ukraine's positions has at least slightly narrowed. The Wall Street Journal and others have reported Putin is now demanding Ukraine hand over the remainder of unoccupied eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in exchange for halting his offensive on two other southeastern regions, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Russia could also hand back the small slivers of land it occupies in Ukraine's Sumy and Kherson regions. Previously, Putin had insisted on taking Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as well. But those demands would still be extreme -- Ukraine would be giving up a huge swath of territory, home to hundreds of thousands of people and important defensive strongholds, in exchange for almost nothing. It would also make it far easier for Russia to relaunch its invasion later. Zelenskyy has already ruled out handing over unoccupied Donbas, noting Ukraine's constitution in any case forbids it. He again on Tuesday also made clear there could be no territorial exchanges without "security guarantees" for Ukraine. European countries have fully backed him. But Trump has indicated he is unwilling to provide any meaningful security guarantees and even if he did, it's very unlikely Putin would accept that. It is hard to see how that gap can be bridged. But for the first time, both sides are speaking more about freezing the lines of contact, something that is far more likely to be acceptable. The summit will be a test to see if something has shifted in the Kremlin and if Putin now truly wants a ceasefire. Andrii Zahorodniuk, a former Ukrainian defense minister, told ABC News he believes Putin will almost certainly propose demands he knows are unacceptable so that Ukraine will alienate Trump by rejecting them. Trump could block military aid to Ukraine if it does not accept. Russian media has already been laying the ground to blame Europe and Ukraine if the summit fails to produce peace. Trump himself on Monday expressed irritation with Zelenskyy for bringing up the constitutional block on handing over land. Putin "plays with the desire of the U.S. administration to bring peace to Ukraine," Zahorodniuk said. "Putin wants to get the U.S. on their side to get all Donbas, something they cannot achieve without losing another few hundred thousand people and a year of time."
CNN
7 minutes ago
- CNN
Zelensky arrives in Berlin ahead of Trump-Putin summit
Zelensky arrives in Berlin ahead of Trump-Putin summit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Berlin for high-level talks with European leaders and President Trump, just days before Trump's face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The virtual meeting is seen as a strategic move to shape Trump's stance ahead of the historic sit-down. 00:36 - Source: CNN Heavy rain shuts down airport in Mexico City Heavy rain on Sunday caused flooding and traffic disruptions in several areas of Mexico City. The rain forced suspension of activities at the Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City for the second time in a row on Tuesday, airport officials reported. 00:35 - Source: CNN Gaza's journalists who never quit Journalists in Gaza have continued reporting under extraordinary conditions—amid danger, displacement, hunger, and personal loss. With international media barred from entering, their work has been the world's only window into the war. Anas Al-Sharif, with Al Jazeera, was among those killed in a recent targeted attack. CNN Producer Abeer Salman reflects on the risks these journalists have taken and the stories they've reported on for the world to see. 02:30 - Source: CNN Can hockey help heal US-Russia relations? Ahead of Presidents Trump and Putin meeting in Alaska this week, Russian hockey stars tell CNN's Fred Pleitgen they hope sport could help bring the two nations -- and people -- closer. 01:38 - Source: CNN Journalists killed in targeted Israeli strike on Gaza Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif was killed in a targeted strike in Gaza on Sunday alongside multiple other journalists. The Israeli military accused Al-Sharif of leading a Hamas cell, an allegation Al-Sharif had previously denied. 01:50 - Source: CNN Australia will recognize Palestine in September Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Monday that Australia will recognize a Palestinian state at the General Assembly of the United Nations in September. Australia joins the UK, France and Canada in announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state. The move leaves the US increasingly isolated from some of its closest allies in its defense of Israel's escalating military campaign that's decimated the besieged enclave after almost two years of war. 00:29 - Source: CNN Wildfires rage across Europe amid heatwaves Wildfires have been raging across Europe over the past few days, with several countries, such as Italy and Spain, experiencing severe heatwaves. 00:48 - Source: CNN Gazan boy struck and killed by falling aid A 14-year-old boy was killed by an airdropped aid package in Gaza on Saturday, according to Al-Awda hospital. The UN has warned that airdrops of aid are ineffective, expensive and dangerous in heavily populated areas. 01:30 - Source: CNN Hundreds arrested at Palestine Action protest In the UK, hundreds have been arrested by London police for protesting the British government's decision to ban the group Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws. The group, which opposes weapons sales to Israel, is challenging the ban. Earlier, police had cautioned they would arrest anyone showing support for the proscribed group. CNN's Isobel Yeung reports. 01:26 - Source: CNN Ukrainians in Kyiv react to Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska As US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin prepare to meet in Alaska to discuss a potential end to the war in Ukraine, residents in Kyiv told CNN how they felt about the meeting that, so far, excludes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 00:43 - Source: CNN Israelis protest Netanyahu's Gaza policies CNN's Matthew Chance is in Tel Aviv, where thousands of protesters are gathering to call on the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza 01:49 - Source: CNN Inside a military raid deep in Ecuador's gang territory CNN follows a military raid in Duran, Ecuador as they go door to door deep inside gang territory. Senior National Correspondent David Culver is with the authorities as they seize drugs, uncover explosive devices, and make a gruesome discovery. Watch 'Ecuador: The Narco Superhighway' on 'The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper' Sunday August 10 at 9pm ET on CNN. 01:55 - Source: CNN Ukrainians in Kyiv react to Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska As US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin prepare to meet in Alaska to discuss a potential end to the war in Ukraine, residents in Kyiv told CNN how they felt about the meeting that, so far, excludes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 00:43 - Source: CNN Analysis: Why Alaska signals a slow defeat for Ukraine President Donald Trump said he'll be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss a potential peace deal to end the war in Ukraine that could include 'some swapping of territories.' But as CNN's Nick Paton Walsh explains, the conditions around Friday's summit so wildly favor Moscow, it's hard to see how a deal emerges that does not eviscerate Ukraine. 01:18 - Source: CNN Zelensky rejects territorial concession with Russia Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address after President Trump's announcement to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine is "ready to work together with President Trump," but quashed the idea of any territory concessions. 01:22 - Source: CNN Israel 'brutally determined' to capture Gaza in new escalation plan Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's military escalation in Gaza, which he claims will capture the city and eliminate Hamas, brings doubtful Israeli citizens to the streets in protest. Palestinians in Gaza scramble for safety and brace for impact as the war intensifies. 02:33 - Source: CNN Balcony collapses in Gaza under weight of crowd scrambling for aid As Palestinians rushed toward an aid package airdropped in Gaza City, a balcony collapsed under the weight of the crowd. It is not clear how many people were injured in this incident. 00:41 - Source: CNN Palestinians and Israelis react to plan to take over Gaza City Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to take over Gaza City. The deadline for the first phase of the offensive is October 7, according to an Israeli source. Hear how Israelis and Palestinians have reacted to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans for occupation. 01:52 - Source: CNN
