“There are credible allegations” that the unaccompanied children were forcibly transported from Ukraine to Russia, the UN’s deputy human rights secretary said Wednesday, expressing concern about their possible adoption by Russian families, AFP reported.

“There are credible allegations of the forced transfer of unaccompanied children to the territory occupied by Russia or to the Russian Federation itself,” said Ilse Brands Kehris at the UN Security Council meeting on forced transfer from Ukraine.

“We are concerned that the Russian authorities have adopted a simplified procedure for granting Russian citizenship to children who are not under the care of their parents, and that these children are subject to adoption by Russian families,” she added.

Women and girls face the risk of sexual violence in Russian filtration centers

She also noted that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, of which she is a member, was able to “confirm” that the Russian armed forces had set up “sorting” centers, a form of security checks and collection of personal and biometric data.

These checks apply to persons leaving the war zone or passing through Russian-controlled territory.

“We are concerned that such checks, as well as the subsequent detentions, take place outside any legal framework and do not respect the principles of necessity and proportionality,” she said, citing “credible information about” numerous human rights violations.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was able to “document” cases where persons subject to such “filtering” were subjected to searches, sometimes forcing them to undress.

“We are particularly concerned about the risk of sexual violence that women and girls face during these procedures,” she added.

The United States on Wednesday directly accused the office of Russian President Vladimir Putin of directly organizing the forced resettlement of thousands of Ukrainians to Russia.