Nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred to Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, according to a new report by War Child UK and Save Ukraine. The children have been subjected to military training, sexual violence, and detention in camps, with the report documenting 200 cases of recently returned children.
The report found that 41% of these children were forced to take part in weapons training or join paramilitary youth movements such as Yunarmiya. A further 39% experienced forced displacement to remote locations in Russia, Crimea, or Belarus, while 17% were detained in filtration camps or police stations, and 10% were subjected to torture or cruel treatment.
Six per cent of children reported experiencing or witnessing conflict-related sexual violence, including threats of rape, forced undressing, and testimonies of minor girls being raped by camp supervisors. The Foreign Office announced sanctions on eight individuals and three organisations involved in the deportations, which former foreign secretary David Lammy described as “despicable”.
The report highlights the case of 17-year-old Kseniia and her 10-year-old brother Serhii, both orphans from Vovchansk. Serhii was taken to the ‘Medvezhonok’ children’s camp in Russia, while Kseniia was forced into a state-mandated trade school. She described mandatory lessons singing the Russian national anthem and being told that “Russia is the best country in the world” and “Ukraine was bad”.
Researchers identified over 200 camps holding Ukrainian children, where families were tricked into sending their children for summer camps only to face intense military training. One anonymous mother described a “torture chamber” set up by Russian troops in her village school, with “a pit, rods, chains, electric shocks”.
The deportation, indoctrination, and militarisation of Ukrainian children is believed to be the largest campaign of child rights violations in Europe since the Yugoslav wars. Kseniia eventually tracked down her brother with help from Save Ukraine, but he was terrified to return, having been told Ukraine was destroyed. They finally returned in May 2023 and are rebuilding their lives.
