Child kidnapping is a crime that happens with frightening
regularity. And it often involves the parents. Sometimes a
Ukrainian-born mother cannot adapt to her new life abroad and
returns to the safety of her native Ukraine, taking along her child
without the father's consent. Or a divorce has gone wrong, and
the mother takes the child back to Ukraine despite a court order
that allows the father visitation rights. In any case, domestic
child kidnapping is a fairly common event that carries criminal
consequences for the offending parent.
As a general rule, the Ukrainian Interpol Bureau, a part of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, should take action based
on Interpol notices for missing children and kidnapping parents.
This warrant information is also shared with the Ukrainian State
Border Control Service. Unfortunately, there is no national
coordinating agency for such searches. The State Execution Service
of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine enforces
