Russia is conducting health #examinations on the children in order to integrate only healthy Ukrainian children into the Russian nation.

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Oct 25

Ukrainian authorities have #verified the identities of over ❗️19,000 abducted children, compiling and actively updating the data as part of an online platform: “Children of War”.
Russian authorities have claimed that over❗️ 700,000 Ukrainian children have been “evacuated” by mid-2023, and Ukraine’s ombudsman on children’s rights is confident that the actual number of abducted children may be in the hundreds of thousands.

Ukrainian #children have been abducted by the Russian state after their parents had been arrested by Russian occupation authorities or #killed in the invasion, or after becoming separated from their parents in an active war zone.
The abducted children have been subject to #russification; raising children of war in a foreign nation and culture may constitute an act of #genocide if intended to erase their national identity. According to Ukraine’s ombudsman on children’s rights, Russia is carrying out the abductions with the goal of supplementing its own population, and that Russia is conducting health #examinations on the children in order to integrate only healthy Ukrainian children into the Russian nation.
The forced transfer of Ukrainian children forms part of a broader propaganda strategy by Vladimir Putin attempting to portray Ukraine as part of the Russian nation, justify the invasion, and bolster support for the war.
Russian officials have made clear that their goal is to #replace any childhood attachment to home with a love for Russia” (The New York Times). Upon arriving in Russia, the children are placed in homes and subjected to #re-education.

In 2022, the Russian government established a large-scale system of at least 43 children’s camps in Russia and Crimea (most of which previously served as children’s summer resorts) the main purpose of which appears to be “integrating children from Ukraine into the Russian government’s vision of national culture, #history, and society”, according to a report by Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab.
Children in such camps have been subjected to Russification, Russian state propaganda, and military education (including firearm training).

According to witness testimonies obtained by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, children have experienced poor living conditions, #inadequate care, and verbal #abuse while living under the custody of the Russian state. Some returned children have attested to harsh punishments and restrictive living conditions while in Russia. The Ukrainian government has claimed that #children have experienced #sexual exploitation after being forcibly transferred to Russia.

Russia do not release any information regarding the identities of the transferred children, making it difficult for Ukrainian and international authorities to locate and identify the children. The first and last names of the abducted children are also changed, making it even more difficult to track down and identify the children.