EU targets Russians with sanctions over the abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on 16 officials accused of helping Russia to abduct tens of thousands of children from Ukraine and force many to change their identities or be put up for adoption.

Sanctions were also slapped on seven centers suspected of indoctrinating the children or training them to serve in the armed forces, either for Russia or pro-Russian militias inside Ukraine.

Over 130 people and “entities” are now under EU travel bans and asset freezes over the abductions.

EU headquarters said the measures target “those responsible for the systematic unlawful deportation, forced transfer, forced assimilation, including indoctrination and militarized education, of Ukrainian minors, as well as their unlawful adoption and removal to the Russian Federation and within temporarily occupied territories.”

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, about 20,500 children have been unlawfully deported or forcibly transferred to Russia or Russian-held territories in eastern Ukraine.

EU officials say many of the children are stripped of their Ukrainian identity and culture, given Russian passports and put up for adoption. Some are forced into schools for indoctrination or into military camps.

“Russia is trying to erase their identity,” Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže said Monday at a meeting with EU counterparts in Brussels, where the sanctions were endorsed. “When you look at the Genocide Convention, it’s one of the features of the genocide crime. So, it’s very serious.”

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions.

Around 2,200 children have been returned, but identifying them is complicated. Those taken at a young age can be difficult to recognize just a few years later. Getting them home is a harrowing task, and while Ukraine has reintegration structures in place some may face a long period of adaption when they return.

The EU on Monday was hosting, alongside Canada, a meeting of the 47-country International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children to increase diplomatic pressure on Russia and rally support for work to verify and trace those who are taken.

“War has really many faces, but stealing the children is really one of the most horrific,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said ahead of the gathering. “We should stop this, and Russia should pay.”

The officials targeted by Monday’s sanctions include the heads of children’s camps, government representatives and military officers in charge of youth training.

One of the 16 named was Lilya Shvetsova, head of the “Red Carnation” camp in occupied Crimea. The EU said she supervised “activities aimed at shaping the political and ideological views of children present at the facility, including Ukrainian children.”

Like others on the list, she was determined to be “supporting and implementing actions and policies contributing to the deportation, forced transfer, forced assimilation, including indoctrination, or militarized education of Ukrainian minors.”

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos speaks with the media as she arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Latvia's Foreign Minister Baiba Braze speaks with the media as she arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Marius Burgelman)

Greece's Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, left, speaks with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas during a round table meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Marius Burgelman)

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, right, arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, right, speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices are rising Monday as the war with Iran threatens to drag on for longer, but the U.S. stock market is nevertheless holding near its record heights.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed 1.6% to $102.90 after President Donald Trump called Iran’s latest proposal to end their war “totally unacceptable” on Sunday. The rejection raises the stakes for Trump’s trip this week to China, where he could urge President Xi Jinping to pressure Iran into making concessions. Xi has leverage because China is the biggest buyer of Iran’s sanctioned crude oil.

The war has already sent the price for a barrel of Brent up from roughly $70 and delivered a blast of painful inflation through the global economy. That’s because it has shut the Strait of Hormuz and kept oil tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf instead of delivering crude to customers worldwide.

Still, the U.S. stock market has been setting records recently on hopes that the war will not keep oil prices high for very long. U.S. companies are meanwhile producing even bigger profits than analysts expected, while signals suggest the U.S. economy is holding up even though households are feeling discouraged about expensive gasoline and tariffs.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 edged up by 0.1% from its record set Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was virtually unchanged.

Mosaic helped drag on the market after the fertilizer company reported much weaker results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company is benefiting from higher prices for its products, but it’s also contending with much higher prices for sulfur and other raw materials that it uses because of logistics snarls created by the war with Iran.

Mosaic’s stock slipped 1%.

Stocks of companies whose customers have the least cushion to absorb higher gasoline prices also struggled, and Dollar General fell 5.8%. Businesses with big fuel bills likewise had some of the market's sharpest losses, including drops of 4.6% for Royal Caribbean and 2.6% for United Airlines.

Helping to offset those losses was Fox, which rose 3% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

More than four out of every five companies in the S&P 500 index that have reported their results for the latest quarter have topped profit expectations so far, and they're on track to deliver overall growth of nearly 28%, according to FactSet. If that turns out to be the case, it would be the best growth since the end of 2021.

Outside of earnings reports, Beazer Homes USA soared 30.1% after Dream Finders Homes offered to buy it in a deal valuing it at roughly $704 million. A combination would create the country’s seventh-largest homebuilder, and Dream Finders is asking Beazer’s shareholders to push its management to OK the deal after making several attempts itself.

Dream Finders slipped 0.2%.

Tech stocks were also strong, continuing their big run amid big spending in the boom around artificial-intelligence technology. Gains of 1.4% for Nvidia and 4.9% for Micron Technology were two of the strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia. France’s CAC 40 fell 0.8%, and South Korea’s Kospi soared 4.3% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held ticked higher. The 10-year yield edged up to 4.39% from 4.38% late Friday.

Yields have moderated a bit this month, but they remain well above where they were before the war began. Higher yields can raise rates for mortgages and other kinds of loans going to U.S. households and businesses, which in turn can slow the economy. Higher yields also tend to push downward on prices for stocks and other kinds of investments.

A report on Monday said the pace of sales for previously occupied U.S. homes accelerated last month, but not by as much as economists expected.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

The South Korean-operated vessel HMM NAMU is docked after being damaged from a fire following an explosion in the Strait of Hormuz, at a port in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, May 8, 2026. (Kim Sang-hun/Yonhap via AP)

Options trader Justin Kanda works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 11, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People work and rest near an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index in an office building Monday, May 11, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A man sweeps in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 11, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 11, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)