The Conflict Observatory released a report that represents the most detailed public record of what happened to Ukraine's children who were sent to camps and other relevant facilities since Feb. 24, 2022.
The report, titled Russia’s Systemic Program for Re-Education and Adoption of Ukraine’s Children, was released Feb. 14 by the research institution that examines and reports on political violence and armed conflicts worldwide, according to the Conflict Observatory.
“A new #ConflictObservatory report details Russia’s vast program to take Ukraine's children from their families or legal guardians, relocate them across borders and ‘re-educate’ them to be pro-Russia. These actions are unconscionable and must stop,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a Feb. 14 post on Twitter.
Russia currently holds an estimated 6,000 children in custody across a network of at least 43 facilities, spanning from its eastern coast to the Russia-occupied Crimea, the Conflict Observatory report said. These facilities are reportedly aimed at politically re-educating children. Consent is reportedly collected under duress and regularly violated, and children have been placed with Russian foster families. The returns of children from at least four camps have been suspended, and all levels of the Russian government are reportedly involved.
Several “integration programs” promoted by the Russian Federation are advertised as a means of integrating Ukrainian children into the Russian government’s preferred view of national culture, history and society, according to the report. Federal, regional and local officials who are directly involved in the program have been identified.
The investigation that led to the report was conducted by the Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab, a member of the Conflict Observatory, according to the release. The Conflict Observatory produced this report with the backing of the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations of the State Department.
