At least six thousand Ukrainian children have attended Russian re-education camps within the past year. Several hundred children have been held in the camps for months or weeks beyond their scheduled return date. The Yale Humanitarian Research Laboratory report also states that Russia has increased the adoption and fostering of Ukrainian kids in what could be considered a war crime. The U.S.A state department funded the report.
Since the war in Ukraine began almost one year ago, Russia has taken kids as young as 4 months old residing in the occupied areas to forty-three camps across Russia, including Siberia and Crimea, for pro-Russia military-related and patriotic education. In two or more camps, the minor’s return was delayed by weeks. At two other camps, the return dates of some kids were indefinitely postponed.
The research report found that Russian authorities wanted to provide children with a pro-Moscow viewpoint through the school curriculum, speeches from veterans, and field trips to patriotic sites. The children cannot speak with their family members.
The occupying regional authorities have published videos from the camps. The videos show kids in the camps carrying the Russian flag and singing the country’s national anthem. In other videos, teachers speak about the need to rectify the children’s understanding of Soviet and Russian history.
The children are also getting trained to use firearms. However, Nathaniel Raymond, a researcher from Yale who oversaw the report, stated that there was no proof that the children were being sent back to engage in fighting. According to a statement from the U.S. state department, there is evidence that Russia intends to suppress and deny Ukraine’s history, identity, and culture. It added that the devastating effects of the war in Ukraine would last for generations.
The report alleges that the Ukrainian parents who agreed to have their children attend the camps were coerced to do so, or their consent was violated. At least ten percent of the camps have suspended returns. Therefore, the kids cannot rejoin their families. The report further says that the Russian government is coordinating the whole program centrally in an effort involving local and federal officials.
