Several Ukrainian children abducted by Russia forcibly sent to North Korea, expert tells US Senate
There have been at least two instances of Ukrainian children abducted by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine having been forcibly transferred to a camp in North Korea, Kateryna Rashevska, a legal expert at Ukraine's Regional Center for Human Rights, told a U.S. congressional subcommittee on Dec. 3.
"12-year-old Misha from the occupied Donetsk region and 16-year-old Liza from occupied Simferopol were sent to Songdowon camp in North Korea, 9,000 km from home," Rashevska testified. "Children there were taught to ‘destroy Japanese militarists’ and met Korean veterans who, in 1968, attacked the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, killing and wounding nine American soldiers."
The testimony came at the start of the U.S. Senate Appropriation's hearing on Russia’s mass abduction of Ukrainian children.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Pyongyang has strengthened its relationship with Moscow, supplying weapons and deploying North Korean troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine in 2024. In late 2024, Pyongyang sent roughly 11,000–12,000 troops to Russia in late 2024 to help repel Ukraine's advance in Russia's Kursk Oblast.
According to Ukraine’s national "Children of War" database, at least 19,546 Ukrainian children have been abducted from Russian-occupied territories and taken to Russia or Russian-controlled areas since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
While it is estimated that thousands of children have been forcibly adopted by Russian families, others, including orphans whose families were killed by Russian forces, have been confined to Russian militarization and re-education camps.
"The Regional Center for Human Rights documented 165 re-education camps where Ukrainian children are militarized and Russified. These camps exist in occupied territories, Russia, Belarus, and North Korea," Rashevska added in her testimony.
In a separate testimony provided by the Nathaniel Raymond, the Executive Director of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab told congressional leaders that the organization now estimates that at least 35,000 remain in Russian custody, including those who have been sent to fight against their own country on the front line.
Ukrainian officials estimate the real figure of abducted children could be far higher. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets puts the number at up to 150,000, while Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Daria Herasymchuk has given a range of 200,000–300,000.
An estimated 1.6 million Ukrainian children remain in territories occupied by Russia as of 2025, Kyiv Independent's recent investigation highlights.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for their role in state-sanction child abductions.
On Dec. 1, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that only 1,859 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia have have been brought back thus far.
