Russia is operating more than 200 facilities to re-educate and militarize Ukrainian children, according to a new investigation by the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health.
The study found that at least 130 of these facilities in Russia run “re-education” programs promoting Russian patriotism and history, while 39 provide military training, including combat drills, paratrooper exercises, and drone assembly.
The researchers said they could not confirm whether any of the children who received military training were later conscripted into the Russian military or deployed in the war in Ukraine.
The researchers also reported that nearly a quarter of the sites are expanding, with two new camps under construction. At least half are directly operated by the Russian government, supported by incorporation records and satellite imagery.
“This is an unprecedented network, built since 2014, to turn Ukrainian children into Russians,” said Nathaniel Raymond, the lab’s executive director.
Ukraine’s “Bring Kids Back” program has documented nearly 20,000 cases of Ukrainian children being unlawfully deported from occupied territories to Russia. In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over the alleged forced transfers, a move considered a potential war crime under international law.
Moscow denies the allegations, claiming the children were moved for their safety.
Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said the Yale report “provides irrefutable evidence contradicting Russian denials and misinformation.”
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced plans to raise the deportation of Ukrainian children at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly later this month.
