The Netherlands will allocate an additional EUR 2 million in 2026 for the identification and return to Ukraine of children abducted by Russia, including the provision of DNA testing kits, Roos Bos, who is responsible for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ activities in the area of combating child abduction, reported.
“Children are still being deliberately removed from Ukraine. Some have been forcibly adopted and placed in Russian families. There is only one reason Russia is doing this: the aim is to destroy Ukraine’s identity and culture and undermine its existence as an independent country,” she wrote in a blog on the Dutch government’s website.
Roos noted that most of the funds provided are earmarked for the supply of DNA testing kits, while the rest is for psychosocial support for children.
“The aim is to enable Ukraine to create a DNA database so that children who return from Russia can be reunited with their families as quickly as possible. Some of this financial support also helps provide psychosocial care for children who have returned to Ukraine from Russia. That is vital, because they often come back traumatised by their treatment by Russian occupying forces and authorities, which can include aggressive indoctrination,” she said.
According to her, DNA analysis has so far yielded impressive results.
“Collection of about 2,000 DNA samples from Ukrainian parents looking for missing children (as of late 2025). Collection of genetic material from more than 3,600 personal items belonging to Ukrainian children who have disappeared from children’s homes and other institutions. Identification of children killed in Russian acts of aggression, and the dignified return of bodies to families,” the diplomat noted.
Roos noted that the DNA database helps build evidence of child abductions, which will support prosecution of war crimes by courts, including the International Criminal Court.