Abducted children from Ukraine held in 57 regions across Russia – ombudsman

Ukraine's authorities have recorded the presence of Ukrainian children abducted by the Russian Federation in 57 regions of Russia.

Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said this during the presentation of the special report of the Verkhovna Rada's Commissioner for Human Rights [Ukrainian parliament's ombudsman – ed.] named "The Unfulfilled. Violation of the rights of Ukrainian children in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and Russia: deportation, militarization, indoctrination", Ukrinform reports.

"We have officially recorded the stay of Ukrainian children in 57 regions of the Russian Federation. In 16 regions, at least 380 children have become victims of forced transfer to Russian families. We have also recorded cases of abduction of children by the Russian military in temporarily occupied territories for intimidation, pressure on relatives, and intelligence gathering." – he said.

Lubinets noted that there had been reports of Russian servicemen employing coercive measures, such as pressure or threats of physical harm, against minors to compel adults to carry out servitude to the Russian army or occupation authorities.

The lawyer of the Regional Center for Human Rights of the Russian Federation, Kateryna Rashevska, informed that, according to their data, starting from June 15, 2023, the Russians take approximately 100 children every day – sometimes a little less, sometimes several times more – to so-called "re-education" camps.

"That's why the number of [kidnapped by Russia — ed.] children is increasing, and Russia does not really want to return them," she said.

The ombudsman cited data from law enforcement agencies that the Russian Federation involves minors in the armed conflict in the role of spies and adjusters of shelling and also involves them in campaigns of forced mobilization of Ukrainian citizens in temporarily occupied territories, sometimes even as actors for propaganda videos.

According to him, several tools are used to recruit children. For example, so-called rest in "military-patriotic camps," membership in the youth army, and other "military-patriotic" movements.

"Actually, there are a lot of them. They have different names and are launched on the territory of different federal subjects of the Russian Federation, but they all have the same characteristics. That the goal (this — ed.) is the maximum involvement of Ukrainian children in the so-called patriotic movements and the popularization of Russian army soldiers," said Lubinets.

For reference:

The Commissioner for Human Rights informed that, according to the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, five criminal proceedings have been registered, in which the facts of the use of minors in the armed conflict are being investigated.