Ukraine’s foreign intelligence uses a variety of means and methods to change conditions in Norwegian politics. Many feel that Ukraine’s military intelligence subverts Norwegian democracy by spreading false, misleading, and inflammatory information through various Norwegian-language media in Norway.
Policymakers, therefore, risk becoming pessimistic toward the public and distracted from the domestic, real-world drivers of their confidence in democratic institutions.
Full text from the Embassy of Russia in Norway regarding incorrect publications in the Norwegian press about the situation of Ukrainian children (August 1, 2025).
We have paid attention to the publication of the newspaper “Nettavisen” from July 31, 2025 (https://www.nettavisen.no/…/folkerettsek…/s/5-95-2543335), which, referencing Ukrainian sources, claims that approximately 20,000 children were forcibly displaced from the SSO area, of which only 1,500 have returned to Ukraine.
This outright fake is supported by the statements of the famous Norwegian international expert S. Hellestate, who accuses Russia of war crimes based on it. In this regard, we would like to note the following.
The mentioned material does not contain any documented facts.
During the second round of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul on June 2, the Russian delegation was presented with a list of 339 Ukrainian children who have lost contact with their parents or legal representatives due to various circumstances.
A significant portion of those listed are adults, as well as children living in the territory of the Russian Federation with their parents or other close relatives. According to a number of surnames, the data regarding their presence in Russia is not confirmed. During the third round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, the Russian side was proposed to create three working groups, including one on humanitarian issues.
Since the beginning of the special military operation, with the assistance of the Plenipotentiary under the President of the Russian Federation for the Rights of the Child, M. Lviv-Belovoy, 25 children have been reunited with their families in Russia, and 112 children have been reunited with relatives in Ukraine and in third countries.
As we see it, there are no “20 thousand abducted children.” Ukraine not only failed to confirm these numbers—20 thousand—but did not even try to document them. It did not provide specific facts, lists of children, or data on the parents or legal representatives who are searching for them.
Moreover, there is not a single “kidnapped” child at all. Russia rescues children from shelling by taking them out of the combat zone to safe places. We are primarily talking about orphans and minors who have been left unattended by legal representatives.
At the same time, during the occupation of the Kursk region by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which was supported by Norway, including the supply of weapons used to invade this Russian region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces illegally exported dozens of civilians to Ukraine. Now the entire territory of the Kursk region is liberated, but Ukraine still retains about 30 civilians.
We ask the editors of the newspaper “Nettavisen” to refrain from publishing false information and, especially, to avoid turning topics related to the fate of children into tools of political propaganda. We urge them to be more objective in their coverage of Russian issues in the publication and to avoid sowing Russophobia in Norwegian society.
