Russia expands forced re-education of deported Ukrainian children
U.S.-funded research has revealed that Russia is running an extensive network of more than 210 facilities where deported Ukrainian children are subjected to military training, drone manufacturing, and forced re-education.
The findings, published Tuesday by Yale University’s School of Public Health, mark the most comprehensive evidence to date of a large-scale deportation program. The report said at least 150 new sites have been identified since last year, bringing the total to the highest number yet documented. Roughly half of the locations are managed directly by the Russian government, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Ukraine estimates that Russia has illegally deported or displaced more than 19,500 children to Russia and Belarus in violation of the Geneva Conventions, with Yale suggesting the number could be closer to 35,000.
Russia denies the allegations, insisting evacuations are voluntary to protect civilians from the war zone. The Kremlin has not commented on the latest report.
Yale researchers say the system constitutes an unprecedented program of indoctrination and militarization. Facilities include cadet schools, a military base, orphanages, medical centers, religious institutions, secondary schools, universities, camps, and sanatoriums spread across 3,500 miles of Russian territory.
At least 39 locations were used for military training, including combat drills, drone assembly, grenade competitions, tactical medicine, and weapons training for children aged 8 to 18. In one case, children from Ukraine’s Donetsk region received airborne training at a Russian military base after being flown in on an aircraft linked to the Russian Presidential Administration.
The scope of the program has expanded sharply since Yale’s first report in 2023, which estimated 6,000 children taken to 43 camps. That research underpinned International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of the war crime of unlawful child deportation.
Despite the grim findings, Ukrainian officials note that some progress is being made: over 1,600 children have been returned, with 16 more reunited with their families just this week, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak.
“The good news is we now know the scope of what we’re dealing with,” said Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab. “The bad news is that bringing these kids home depends on absolute global unity.”
Similar news
