Russia: A new report published in the United States has found that at least 6,000 children from Ukraine have attended Russian “re-education” camps in 2022, with several hundred held there for weeks or months beyond their scheduled return date.
Researchers from the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab stated that they had identified at least 43 camps and other facilities where Ukrainian children as young as four months old were held and whose “primary purpose” appeared to be political reeducation.
“Multiple camps endorsed by the Russian Federation are advertised as “integration programs,” with the apparent goal of integrating children from Ukraine into the Russian government’s vision of national culture, history, and society,” the report remarked.
Mr. Nathaniel Raymond, a Yale researcher, commented that the policy put Moscow in “clear violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the treatment of civilians during war” and called the report a “gigantic Amber alert,” referring to US public notices of child abductions.
“The Russian activity in some cases may constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity,” Mr. Raymond added.
The report further stated that the children included those with parents or obvious family guardians, orphans, others who were in the care of Ukrainian state institutions before the invasion, and those whose custody was unclear or uncertain due to the war.According to the report, some of the children were adopted by Russian families or moved into foster care in Russia.
Russia’s embassy in Washington, DC, responded to the report that “Russia accepts children who were forced to flee Ukraine.”
“We do our best to keep underage people in families, and when parents or relatives are absent or die, we transfer orphans under guardianship,” the embassy added.