This was stated by Dmytro Lubinet, the human rights representative of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine the family of Russian deputy Serhii Myronov illegally adopted a kidnapped Ukrainian childfrom an orphanage in Kherson and changed his identity, Kyiv Independent reports.

It appears that the guardian of the child’s sister contacted Lubinets and asked him to find the kidnapped girl, as he also wants custody of her.

The child, identified as Margarita Prokopenko, was one of 48 children who disappeared from the Kherson Regional Children’s Home when Russian forces took control of the city, according to a BBC investigation published on November 23.

As the investigation showed, at that time Margarita was taken from occupied Kherson to Russia by Inna Varlamova, the wife of the leader of the “Just Russia” party Serhiy Mironov, a loyal ally of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Later, Varlamova and Mironov adopted Margarita, who received Russian citizenship and was renamed Maryna Mironova, the BBC writes. Her place of birth was also allegedly changed from Kherson, Ukraine to Podolsk, Russia.

According to Lubinets, this is the first recorded case of identity change of a Ukrainian child illegally adopted by a Russian citizen.

IStories, which also investigated Margarita’s story, called it “the first documented case of the adoption of a Ukrainian child by a Russian politician of this rank.”

Margarita has a six-year-old sister who lives with the guardian who contacted Lubinets, and a three-year-old brother whose whereabouts are unknown, the commissioner added. As the BBC reports, Margarita’s brother was also kidnapped from the Kherson orphanage by Russian officials.

“Adoption of Ukrainian children in the Russian Federation is illegal. According to international and national legislation, in order for foreigners to adopt a Ukrainian child, it is necessary to notify Ukraine and obtain consent to the adoption,” Lubinets wrote.

“However, Russia tries to get around this and forcibly grants Russian citizenship to Ukrainian children, which is also a crime! Forcibly transferring children from one ethnic group to another is genocide!”

The charges against Mironov are consistent with allegations that Russian lawmakers played a key role in the forcible removal of thousands of children from Ukraine.

In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, charging him with the war crime of illegally deporting at least 100 children from Ukraine.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin on suspicion of illegal deportation of children and illegal transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

Separately, the court issued warrants for Maria Lviv-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, on the same charges.