Since February 2022, Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported by Russian forces to at least 210 facilities across Russia and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, according to a recent investigation conducted by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL). Experts believe the actual number of facilities may be even higher.
The findings indicate that Russia is operating a large-scale system designed for the reeducation, military training, and long-term housing of thousands of Ukrainian children. This alarming revelation underscores the vulnerability of children in armed conflict, as emphasized by Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine. He stated,
“Children are always the most vulnerable victims of armed conflict.”
Yermak further noted the extensive trauma and displacement these children have faced, compounded by systemic deportation, illegal adoption, and forced assimilation.
Russia’s system of child ‘re-education’
The HRL report details the logistical and operational framework established by Russia for the purpose of assimilating Ukrainian children. The investigation identifies eight distinct types of facilities involved in this initiative, which range from summer camps and sanatoriums to military bases and even a monastery. While some children have been temporarily housed at these locations, others have been held indefinitely.
Among those affected are children taken from state institutions and those without primary guardians or with physical disabilities. The HRL team also documented the situation of children forcibly separated from their parents in frontline areas since the onset of the conflict and those taken by Russia-aligned officials from filtration camps situated around Mariupol in early 2022.
Scope of the deportation effort
The documented 210 facilities form a vast network that facilitates the transfer of Ukrainian children, stretching from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Black Sea regions and extending to the Pacific coast of Russia. These locations range from urban universities to remote camps in Siberia.
Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of the HRL, expressed concern over the expansive nature of this operation, stating,
“We now know that the true scale of Russia’s network of facilities militarising, transferring, and re-educating children taken from Ukraine is massive.”
He noted that over half of the identified locations are under direct control of the Russian government.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has verified the deportation of over 19,500 children, although estimates by the HRL suggest the number could be as high as 35,000. Russian authorities, including Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, have claimed to have “accepted” approximately 700,000 Ukrainian children between February 2022 and July 2023.
Efforts to repatriate these children have seen Ukraine manage to bring back 1,605 children, facilitated by third-party states such as Qatar, South Africa, and the Vatican. During negotiations in Istanbul in June, Ukraine provided Russia with a list of its abducted children, reiterating its commitment to their return as a critical component for any future peace deal.
Rustem Umerov, head of the Ukrainian delegation, remarked,
“If Russia is genuinely committed to a peace process, the return of at least half the children on this list is positive.”
Meanwhile, the Russian delegation dismissed these claims, suggesting that Ukraine is exploiting the issue for sympathy.
In a significant legal development, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lvova-Belova for their roles in the unlawful deportation and illegal transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.