Experts from the Yale University Humanitarian Research Lab have released a new analytical report on the extensive system of relocation, re-education, and militarization of Ukrainian children organized by Russia. According to the investigation, at least 210 institutions in Russia and in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine are being used to detain and influence Ukrainian children.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Types of Institutions and Categories of Children
Researchers identified four main groups of children held in these institutions:
- Children relocated to summer camps for temporary so-called “re-education”;
- Residents of Ukrainian orphanages and facilities for children with disabilities who are deprived of parental care;
- Children forcibly separated from their parents in frontline areas at the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022;
- Minors taken from their parents in filtration camps near Mariupol in the spring of 2022.
Data on an unspecified number of Ukrainian children have been published on Russian adoption websites under the guise of local orphans — subsequently, these children ended up in Russian families.
Scale and Geography of the Network
The network of institutions spans territories from the occupied parts of Ukraine and the Black Sea regions of Russia to the Far East and the Pacific coast. Among the 210 identified institutions are universities, cadet schools, camps, sanatoriums, family support centers, orphanages, medical facilities, a religious institution, a military base, and even a hotel. The majority of these institutions are located in the western part of Russia.
According to HRL estimates, 62.9% of the institutions are involved in re-educating children, while at least 18% are engaged in their militarization. More than half of the institutions are controlled by the Russian government.
“Children from Ukraine report re-education in more than half (62.9%) of the institutions and undergo militarization in at least 18% of the institutions identified by HRL. More than half of the institutions where children from Ukraine are taken are managed by the Russian government,” the press release accompanying the report states.
Analysts consider this system unprecedented in scale and emphasize that it allows the Kremlin to hold Ukrainian children for years, influencing their identity and fate. HRL notes that it is difficult to determine the exact number of relocated children, but according to official information from Ukraine, over 20,000 Ukrainian children have found themselves in Russia and in occupied territories. Meanwhile, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets estimates that this figure could reach 150,000, while the Commissioner for Children’s Rights Daria Gerasimchuk has cited a figure of 200,000 to 300,000 children.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova on suspicion of committing war crimes related to the deportation and relocation of Ukrainian children.
According to Maria Lvova-Belova, since the beginning of the invasion, Russia has “accepted” about 4.8 million citizens of Ukraine, of whom over 700,000 are children. She claims that most of them arrived with their parents or relatives.
Yale researchers emphasize the need for international efforts to return the children to Ukraine, reintegrate them into communities, hold those responsible accountable, and strengthen mechanisms to prevent similar crimes from occurring in the future.