Russia operates 'potentially unprecedented system' holding Ukrainian children in 210 facilities, Yale researchers say
Ukrainian children have been taken to at least 210 facilities inside Russia and Russian-occupied territories since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) said in a new report published on Sept. 16.
The report, the fourth in a series by HRL, concluded that children were subjected to re-education at nearly two-thirds of the sites and underwent militarization in almost one-fifth. More than half of the facilities are run by the Russian government, according to the researchers.
"Russia is operating a potentially unprecedented system of large-scale re-education, military training, and dormitory facilities capable of holding tens of thousands of children for long periods of time," the Yale group wrote.
"The impact of the alleged crimes perpetuated by the Russian government is likely to leave generational scars," the researchers said, adding that Russia "aims to fold Ukraine's children into the Russian war machine, whether it be through its civilian arm or military wing."
Ukraine's government says Russia has abducted at least 19,546 children since the full-scale war began, with just 1,605 returned, according to the "Bring Kids Back UA" initiative. Ukrainian officials and human rights groups believe the true number is far higher — potentially between 150,000 and 300,000.
The Yale study found that children have been placed in summer camps, sanatoriums, cadet schools, family centers, and a monastery. Some were temporarily housed and later returned, while others were forcibly separated from their parents and placed into Russian foster care or adoption programs.
The findings show that children in some facilities were given combat or paratrooper training, took part in parades and drills, and, in certain cases, helped assemble drones for Russia's military.
At least 130 locations force Ukrainian children to undertake re-education programmes. These programmes promote cultural, patriotic, or military narratives that align with pro-Russia ideologies.
Children participate in lectures on history and geopolitics, visit historical sites and museums, and sing the Russian national anthem.
HRL researchers said they used satellite imagery and open-source documents, including Russian government statements, to track the network across 59 regions of Russia and occupied Ukraine — stretching more than 3,500 miles from the Black Sea to the Pacific coast.
Russia has carried out deportations, re-education, and coerced adoptions of Ukrainian children since at least 2014 in Crimea, as well as Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts. Those efforts escalated sharply after the 2022 invasion, expanding to include children from occupied areas in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and other oblasts.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian official overseeing the forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia, in March 2023.
In its statement, the ICC wrote that it believes Putin “bears individual criminal responsibility” as the leader of Russia for the crimes committed against Ukrainian children.
The demand to return abducted children has been one of the key points of Ukraine's peace talks with Russia.
