Russia sends abducted Ukrainian children to front lines, says The Times
Photo: Russia sends kidnapped Ukrainian children to the front lines (Getty Images)
Russia is forcing abducted Ukrainian children to join its army and fight against their own country once they turn 18, The Times reports.
According to unnamed Ukrainian officials, the forced conscription of Ukrainians serves two goals for the Kremlin: addressing the manpower shortage in the Russian military and acting as a brutal new form of psychological warfare against Ukrainians. The latter is reportedly a direct order from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The outlet notes that an estimated 35,000 children have been illegally taken from temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories. The exact number of those conscripted into the Russian army remains unknown, but it could be in the thousands.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goal is to destroy Ukraine as a nation, starting with its future generations, according to Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, who spoke on The General and The Journalist podcast.
He confirmed that the Ukrainian government possesses documented evidence, including conscription lists and information about underage casualties on the battlefield.
Yermak emphasized that Russia aims to turn abducted Ukrainian children into new soldiers, calling it an act of barbarism and a form of psychological warfare.
Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, also confirmed to The Times that his team is investigating dozens of cases involving the use of formerly abducted children in combat.
He stated that these are not isolated incidents, describing the situation as the largest child abduction crisis since World War II, comparable to the Nazi Germanization of Polish children. According to Raymond, this is not re-education but mobilization.
In total, 116 facilities have been identified, from Crimea to Russia’s Pacific coast, where Ukrainian children are being held. After leaving these so-called re-education camps, teenagers are reportedly sent to cadet schools where they undergo weapons training.
Abduction of Ukrainian children
According to Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, since the start of the full-scale war, Russia has deported over 19,500 children from Ukraine. So far, just over 1,000 of them have been successfully returned home.
The deportation of Ukrainian children was the key reason behind the International Criminal Court in The Hague issuing arrest warrants for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.
