Hundreds of children from Ukraine were illegally transferred to Russia: they were sent to 're-education camps'

The Russian government has relocated at least 6000 children from Ukraine to a network of re-education and adoption facilities in Russian-occupied Crimea and mainland Russia, reports ConflictObservatory.

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The Yale School of Public Health Humanities Research Laboratory (Yale HRL) has identified 43 institutions that held children from Ukraine following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Most of them are health camps where children are supposedly taken for vacation, while others are institutions used to house children who have been raised or adopted in Russia.

These results show that most of the camps were engaged in pro-Russian re-education, and some camps provided military training for children or prevented children from returning to their parents in Ukraine.

Yale HRL has collected information on at least 6000 children from Ukraine, aged between four months and 17 years old, who have been held in camps and other institutions since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. These facilities were launched in February 2022. The most recent transfers occurred in January 2023. The total number of children is unknown and probably well over 6000.

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The network covers at least 43 objectsidentified by Yale HRL, 41 of which are pre-existing summer camps in Russian-occupied Crimea and Russia. Among the camps, 12 are concentrated around the Black Sea, 7 - in the occupied Crimea and 10 - around the cities of Moscow, Kazan and Yekaterinburg. Eleven camps are located more than 800 km from Ukraine's border with Russia, including two camps in Siberia and one in the Russian Far East. The exact number of objects is probably much higher. Also among the institutions where orphans were placed, there is a psychiatric hospital and a family center.

The network of childcare facilities stretches from Russian-occupied Crimea to Russia's east coast: the furthest camp this investigation has identified is in the Magadan region in Russia's Far East by the Pacific Ocean, about 6000 kilometers from Ukraine's border with the Russian Federation. The camp in Magadan is about three times closer to the United States than to the border with Ukraine.

The main purpose of such camps is political re-education. At least 32 (78%) of the camps identified by the Yale Committee on Human Rights engage in systematic re-education that exposes Ukrainian children to Russian-oriented academic, cultural, patriotic, and military aspects. Numerous camps approved by the Russian Federation are advertised as "integration programs" with the apparent goal of integrating children from Ukraine into Russian-imposed culture, history, and society.

The children from the two camps were placed with foster families in Russia. Yale HRL identified at least two camps containing children believed to be orphans who were later placed with foster families in Russia. It is reported that 20 children from these camps were placed with families in the Moscow region and enrolled in local schools.

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Consent to move children from parents was obtained under duress. The parents allege that specific elements of their consent were violated, such as the length of stay and the arrangements for reunification with the children. The parents refused to let their children go to the camps, but the camp organizers ignored them and enrolled the children in the camps anyway. In many cases, the parent's ability to give meaningful consent may be considered dubious, since the conditions of war and the hidden threat from occupying forces are conditions of coercion.

The return of children from at least four camps has been suspended. In about 10% of the camps identified by Yale HRL, the return of children to Ukraine has been suspended. According to parents, from two camps, "Artek" and "Medvezhonok", the return of children was suspended indefinitely. "Medvezhonok" is one of the largest identified camps, which once housed at least 300 children from Ukraine. Officials initially told the children's parents that they would be returning at the end of the summer, but later canceled the return date.

Hundreds of Ukrainian children from at least two other camps have been detained or imprisoned after their scheduled return date. Yale HRL was unable to determine how many of these children were reunited with their parents. Parents also reported that they could not obtain information about the status or whereabouts of their child after they refused to return it. It is not known how many Ukrainian children are currently being held in Russia and how many have been handed over to families.

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All levels of the Russian government are involved in this scheme.. Yale HRL has identified dozens of federal, state and local actors directly involved in the implementation and political rationale of the program. The activities of officials allegedly involved in the operation include coordinating logistics (such as transporting children), fundraising, collecting supplies, directly managing the camp, and promoting the program in Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine. At least 12 of these people are not on US and/or international sanctions lists.

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