Deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia: Molfar Intelligence Institute identifies individuals involved
19.05.2026
Analysts at the Molfar Intelligence Institute have identified four people who may be involved in the transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied parts of the Luhansk region to Russia.
Those identified include school staff and guardianship officials, as well as guardians with notable profiles: an unemployed artist listed in phone directories as a “fortune-teller”, and a leader of a religious organisation described in media reports as a closed group with sect-like characteristics.
According to an investigation by the Molfar Intelligence Institute in cooperation with the Bring Kids Back, Ukrainian children were transferred to Russian families through such intermediaries. 16 of them ended up under guardianship in Russia’s Leningrad, Novosibirsk and Tyumen regions.
Some information is not being disclosed for security reasons.
Tetiana Udovkina
Date of birth: February 17, 1977
Taxpayer ID (TIN): 345930264831
Individual insurance account number (SNILS): 21541440118
Passport: 6023453338
Contacts and social media:
+7 959 190 82 45
Telegram ID: 5220897805
udovkina.tanja@yandex.ru
VK, VK2, OK, OK2, Telegram, TikTok
Address: 57 Lykhachova street, Apt. 92, Luhansk region, Lutuhyne
Activity
Tetiana Udovkina is originally from Lutuhyne in the Luhansk region, an area under Russian occupation since 2014. The Russian media outlet RG.ru described her as an adviser to the principal of a local correctional boarding school for children with visual impairments and intellectual disabilities.
In June 2024, she accompanied students to a sports event (Spartakiad) held on the Klyazma River in Moscow. Later the same year, Udovkina and 41 children spent three weeks at the “Lesnaya Polyana” summer camp in Russia’s Oryol region.
Screenshot from RG.ru.
As of November 2024, she was still employed at the Lutuhyne special (correctional) boarding school.
In 2020, she worked as a teacher at the “Beryozka” kindergarten in Heorhiivka, Lutuhyne district (VK), according to the Russian website Pedstrana1.ru.
Financial activity
Udovkina holds a Russian passport, tax identification number (TIN) and individual insurance account number (SNILS). She also has a deposit account with Russia’s Promsvyazbank, where she is listed as a Russian citizen.
Travel to Russia
In August 2023, Udovkina was in Adler, Krasnodar Krai. In the same month, she travelled by car (registration plate A831EB) along the route Novoshakhtinsk (Russia) – Krasnyi Luch (Luhansk region).
Between May and November 2025, she was in Moscow (1, 2).
In November 2025, she published a video from a trip to Krasnodar, likely visiting her husband Viktor Udovkin. In the comments, she wrote that she was “still living in the same place”, suggesting she had returned to Lutuhyne.
Family
Viktor Udovkin is Tetiana’s husband. Born on July 31, 1983. VK, +79183740341, gjaur83@mail.ru, v.udovkin24@mail.ru, passport (ru): 0319525152, taxpayer ID (TIN): 236405983555, individual insurance account number (SNILS): 18704524479). Known address in Russia: 9 Sadovaya street, town of Kropotkin, Kavkazsky district, Krasnodar Krai. According to insider information, he worked at secondary school No. 21 named after T. Kostyrina in the village of Losevo, Krasnodar Krai.
Veronika Udovkina is Tetiana’s daughter. Born on February 10, 2005. VK,Telegram, TikTok, +79595048547 (Telegram id: 5545136782), udovkinaveronika5@mail.ru, passport (ru): 6023453054. Veronika graduated from school in Lutuhyne in June 2021. According to VK, she is a student at Luhansk State Medical University named after Saint Luka. Veronika holds a deposit account with Russia’s Promsvyazbank, where she is registered as a Russian citizen. She is also registered on the Russian government services portal gosuslugi.ru.
Nataliia Romaniuk
Date of birth: March 1, 1978
Taxpayer ID (TIN): 345911882705
Passport: 6023252475
Contacts and social media:
+7 989 519 83 43
+7 959 274 86 32
Telegram ID: 6968142822
VK
Address: 10 Gagarina Street, Apt. 12, the village of Cheliuskynets, Lutuhyne district, Luhansk region.
Activity
Nataliia Romaniuk has held senior roles in educational institutions and administration bodies.
She worked as principal of a secondary school in the town of Fabrychne (1, 2) and of an educational complex in the town of Vrubivskyi (1, 2). In 2022–2023, Romaniuk headed the Education Department of the Lutuhyne District Administration (1, 2, 3).
Since July 2024, she has been the director of the Lutuhyne boarding school. In March 2025, at her initiative, the boarding school received a shipment of supplies from Cossacks of Russia’s Lipetsk region (1, 2, 3).
Screenshot from the VK page of “Spravedlivaya Rossiya Luhansk”
Romaniuk has been involved in facilitating the transfer of children from the boarding school to Russia and their placement with Russian families.
In December 2025, she was added to the OpenSanctions database as a person of interest due to these activities at the boarding school.
Travel to Russia
Since 2014, Romaniuk has made regular trips to Russia. As of February 2026, 44 border crossings have been documented.
Border crossings after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine:
- 16.07.2022 — departure (Novoshakhtinsk) → 26.07.2022 — return (Izvaryne)
- 15.08.2022 — departure (Novoshakhtinsk) → 21.08.2022 — return (Novoshakhtinsk)
- 26.11.2022 — departure → 03.12.2022 — return (Izvaryne)
- 29.04.2023 — departure → 16.05.2023 — return (Izvaryne)
- 05.06.2023 — departure → 14.06.2023 — return (Izvaryne)
- 03.07.2023 — departure → 07.07.2023 — return (Novoshakhtinsk)
- 09.07.2023 — departure → 15.07.2023 — return (Gukovo)
Family
Andrii Romaniuk (born on March 7, 1973, passport: 6023685511) is Nataliia’s husband. He travelled to Russia on April 29, 2023 and returned to Luhansk region via Izvaryne. This is the latest known border crossing as of February 2026.
Viktoriia Romaniuk (born on March 13, 1996, taxpayer ID (TIN): 504037056868) is Nataliia’s daughter. She moved to Russia in 2019. Registered in Moscow region, Ramensky district, village Novoye, 5 Usadba SPETS SMU Street, Apt. 4.
Faina Tokaryeva (Gudun, Valeyeva)
Date of birth: March 14, 1971
Taxpayer ID (TIN): 032500175315
Individual insurance account number (SNILS): 03765967101
Passports: 4124527940, 4120122694
Contacts and social media:
Activity
Faina is the guardian of four children, including two from the occupied part of the Luhansk region.
She studied at the East Siberian State Institute of Culture, specialising in directing and acting.
According to her resume, she worked as a salesperson in 2012. Between 2015 and 2017, Tokaryeva was employed by a cleaning company called “Alita.”
She indicates that she has 13 years of experience in education. She worked as an artist and later described herself as an “unemployed artist”.
In 2024, Faina worked at the Committee of Guardianship and Custody, and in 2025 she is likely to have received income from the Ostankino brewery.
In phone directories, she is listed under names such as “fortune-teller Tuchka”, “large foster family”, and “Vietnamese piglets”.
Financial activity
In 2019, Faina’s phone number was used to register an account on the betting site pin-up.bet. In October 2021, her email address (1tuchka1@mail.ru) and phone number were used to register another betting account on 1win.ru.
In 2022, Faina applied for multiple microloans (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Between 2024 and 2025, she continued taking out microloans, stating that she needed the money for everyday expenses such as food and clothing.
Roman Vinogradov
Date of birth: May 3, 1981
Taxpayer ID (TIN): 142801178069
Individual insurance account number (SNILS): 15382625471
Passport: 5014322594
Contacts and social media:
+7 913 926 13 49
Telegram ID: 1036229998
vinogradovrom@mail.ru
Instagram, OK, VK
Guardianship
In his VK profile, Vinogradov writes that he is the father of 10 children. According to an insider source, some of them are his biological children, while others are under his guardianship. He is the legal guardian of eight children, including one child from the occupied Luhansk region.
Screenshot from Roman Vinogradov’s VK page.
Activity
Since 2013, Vinogradov has served as a senior church leader at the religious organisation “Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) ‘New Generation’” in Novosibirsk, Russia. Media reports (1, 2, 3) describe the organisation as having cult-like characteristics and using psychological influence techniques.
In May 2025, Vinogradov published photos on VK showing children near a stand labelled “New Generation”, likely taken during one of the organisation’s events.
Screenshot from Roman Vinogradov’s VK page.
Financial activity
From April 2010 to March 2011, Vinogradov was registered as an individual entrepreneur (IE) involved in preparing his own real estate for sale (1, 2).
In 2020, he received an income of approximately USD 4,600 from the Novosibirsk District Administration.
He has likely been placed on Russian bank watchlists.
Criminal record
Vinogradov is alleged to have been convicted in 2007 under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud), which covers taking property or rights through deception or abuse of trust.
The article provides for penalties ranging from a fine of up to 120,000 rubles (about USD 1,500) to restricted freedom, compulsory labour, or arrest.
Deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia
At least 20,570 children are known to have been deported to Russia or forcibly transferred from temporarily occupied territories. Within the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, 2,145 children have been returned to Ukraine thanks to the joint efforts of state and non-governmental organisations. Molfar Intelligence Institute also contributed to the search for these children.
The children are being held, Russified, placed with Russian families under guardianship or adopted, and subjected to militarisation and indoctrination. Russia has also created a “database” (“catalogue”) of Ukrainian children for adoption.
According to the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian children have been sent to at least 210 institutions in Russia and occupied territories, where programmes of “re-education” and militarisation have been documented. At least 2,158 children from Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions were placed in such facilities. These include 143 summer camps, eight cadet schools and one military base. Some are linked to state companies such as Gazprom and Rosneft.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry of the United Nations described the deportation of children as a crime against humanity. It says that 80% of documented children have still not returned home after four years of the full-scale war.
Following these actions, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights.
Analysts at Molfar Intelligence Institute have found that Maria Lvova-Belova personally coordinates the deportation of children from occupied territories, accompanies them during transfers, and facilitates their placement with Russian families as well as the acquisition of Russian citizenship. Maria Lvova-Belova herself illegally adopted a teenager abducted from Mariupol.
At the same time, Lvova-Belova managed a network of so-called “inclusive” projects, including “Kvartal Lui” and “Dom Veroniki”, where financial reporting was absent and beneficiaries were reportedly forced to take out loans to cover their own maintenance costs. There are also documented cases of deaths allegedly resulting from the failure to provide medical assistance.
The deportation of Ukrainian children involves multiple levels of organisers and facilitators — from education staff and guardianship authorities to religious organisations. It is a systemic practice in which local intermediaries play a key role.
The material is produced by Molfar Intelligence Institute with the support of the Askold and Dir Fund as a part of the Strong Civil Society of Ukraine — a Driver towards Reforms and Democracy project, implemented by ISAR Ednannia, funded by Norway and Sweden. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Molfar Intelligence Institute and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Government of Norway, the Government of Sweden and ISAR Ednannia.
