Up to 20,000 Ukrainian children are being held inside Russian and forced to undergo “re-education” programme says new report, with evidence of forced parades and combat training
A shocking new report has revealed the horrific extent of how Russia is “re-educating” 20,000 children they have snatched from Ukraine. Many of the children are now being forced to undertake military training.
The investigators identified more than 200 locations, including cadet schools, military bases, and other facilities being used as part of a mass deportation effort for the transfer of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Some of these locations appeared to be involved in systemic re-education activities. Military training was observed at 40 of these locations, including forced ceremonial parades and drills, combat training, and the assembly of drones and other equipment.
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Top Ukrainian officials reacted with horror at the new report. Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, said “This report demands action. Children are always the most vulnerable victims of armed conflict.
“Not only have these children undergone trauma and displacement, they have also suffered systemic deportation, illegal adoption, and forced assimilation. It’s now clear Russia plans to use Ukraine’s own children as a ‘weapon’ against us and Europe more broadly. This report provides irrefutable evidence contradicting Russian denials and misinformation about their handling of Ukraine’s children.”
Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa added: “There can no longer be any doubt – these innocent and vulnerable victims of Russia’s full-scale invasion have not just been taken from their families and home but forced into re-education and militarisation. The suffering of children is one of the most unbearable tragedies of this war. For the sake of global peace, Russia must return Ukrainian children home – then we can speak about a credible path forward.”
The new report is by investigators with the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health. Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of the HRL says, “We now know that the true scale of Russia’s network of facilities militarising, transferring, and re-educating children taken from Ukraine is massive.
“At least 210 facilities, many of them under Russia’s direct control, hold Ukraine’s children from the Black Sea to Siberia and the Pacific Coast.”
The HRL’s report, ‘Ukraine’s Stolen Children: Inside Russia’s Network of Re-education and Militarisation’ identified eight different categories of sites where children have been held: cadet schools, military bases, medical facilities, religious sites, secondary schools and universities, and most frequently, camps and sanatoria.
The report also reveals re-education activities. Cultural, patriotic, and military programming aligning with pro-Russian narratives were observed at the majority of locations identified. The HRL report notes – “while it cannot be determined at this time, it is likely Ukrainian children have been exposed to re-education activities at even more of the facilities identified.”