ADOPTION DURING THE WAR IN UKRAINE: HOW NOT TO LOSE A CHILD

Background: During martial law, the protection of children’s rights is of the utmost importance. One key aspect is the realisation of the right to raise a child in the family, and one of the ways this can be exercised is through adoption. However, martial law adoption has many nuances and pitfalls that require careful research.
Methods: In this article, the author carried out a comprehensive study of both the changes in the legislation of Ukraine in terms of adoption in the context of martial law and the alternatives that can be applied to adoption during wartime. In particular, the following issues were considered: reunification of adoptive parents with an adopted child evacuated outside of Ukraine; transfer of child placement processes to a digital format; adoption conditions and registration of children during martial law; peculiarities of registration of candidates for adoptive parents; circle of subjects who can be adoptive parents during martial law; the functioning of the institute of temporary placement of children in Ukraine and the institute of guardianship and care during martial law; peculiarities of the procedure for trial of adoption cases; and existing national control mechanisms for displaced children. The advantages of temporary placement over adoption during martial law and current practice in this regard are also analysed. In addition, the article provides statistical information about children who suffered as a result of a full-scale war, information about family forms of upbringing, information about the number of court proceedings in the category of adoption cases, as well as foreign experience in overcoming the problem of “children of war”.
Results and Conclusions: The result of this study is the determination of ways to solve the fate of children who were left without parents as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, as well as clarification of the mechanisms of their functioning in practice.