Ukraine’s children abducted and ‘re-educated’ by Russia
Russian camps ‘brainwash’ thousands of Ukrainian children
Nastya is only 15, but she has already “lived a thousand lives”, said Camille Neveux in Le Journal du Dimanche (Paris).
Separated from her family after Russian troops occupied her home in southeastern Ukraine during last year’s invasion, she was deported to a so-called “filtration camp” in Crimea. She was then sent to another camp in Kherson, where she was forced to learn Russian and “violently beaten”.
For her, “the story ends well”: Nastya “miraculously” made it home last week, after finding her mother on social media. But thousands of others haven’t been so lucky, said the Kyiv Post.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In a new report, the US-based Yale Humanitarian Research Lab says at least 6,000 Ukrainian children, between the ages of 17 and four months old, have been taken from their families to Russian “re-education camps” and “adoption facilities” over the past year. Some of the 43 Russian camps identified are as far away as Siberia; all are designed to brainwash children with pro-Russian propaganda and military-style education.
Russian authorities present this as “a charitable effort” to save Ukrainian children from the “horrors of war”, said Belen Lopez Garrido in Eurovision News (Geneva). But we should be clear what it means: it is kidnapping, abduction.
Some of the kids go to vacation camps and find that their planned return is “suspended”; others are adopted and integrated into the “motherland”. Propaganda videos show these “bewildered children” being collected from trains and greeted with hugs from adults they’ve never even met. This is no act of kindness, said Galia Ackerman in Le Point (Paris): it’s a war crime aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity and restoring Russia’s declining population. It recalls the worst horrors of past conflicts, and must be stopped.
At the centre of this scheme is Maria Lvova-Belova, said Mick Krever on CNN (New York). Made Vladimir Putin’s “commissioner for children’s rights” in 2021, she posts photos showing the “wonderful life” being offered to Ukrainian children. She claims to have adopted a 15-year-old from Mariupol herself.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Ukraine’s government estimates that far more than 6,000 children have been taken, said Colin Freeman in The Daily Telegraph: it puts the figure at at least 14,000. Many, it seems, are orphans (Ukraine has numerous orphanages, “reminiscent of those in 1990s Romania”, a legacy of Soviet rule that Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, has “vowed to end”). Kyiv hopes the Yale report will be a warning to the world; but it fears that many of the children taken to Russia will “never see Ukraine again”.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'New arrivals are more than paying for themselves'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
6 stylish homes in Portland, Oregon
Feature Featuring a wall of windows in Collins View and a historic ballroom in Portland Heights
By The Week US Published
-
What's next for US interest rates?
The Explainer Stubborn inflation forestalls anticipated rate cuts
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Is Russia jamming GPS in the Baltics?
Under The Radar Satellite location signals are vital for aviation safety but they are 'vulnerable to blocking or distortion'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Aid to Ukraine: too little, too late?
Talking Point House of Representatives finally 'met the moment' but some say it came too late
By The Week UK Published
-
How would we know if World War Three had started?
Today's Big Question With conflicts in Ukraine, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, the 'spark' that could ignite all-out war 'already exists'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will Iran attack hinder support for Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Pro-Kyiv allies cry 'hypocrisy' and 'double standards' even as the US readies new support package
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
The issue of women and conscription
Under the radar Ukraine military adviser hints at widening draft to women, as other countries weigh defence options amid global insecurity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why is Ukraine backing far-right militias in Russia?
Today's Big Question The role of the fighters is a 'double-edged sword' for Kyiv, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine's unconventional approach to reconstruction
Under the radar Digitally savvy nation uses popular app to file compensation claims, access funds and rebuild destroyed homes
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What does victory now look like for Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Not losing is as important as winning as the tide turns in Russia's favour again
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published