WASHINGTON—U.S. Helsinki Commission Chairman Senator Roger Wicker (MS), Co-Chairman Representative Joe Wilson (SC-02), Ranking Member Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), and Ranking Member Representative Steve Cohen (TN-09) today expressed their alarm about Russian officials’ announcement that they will transfer 50,000 Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territory to camps or Russian schools for “summer vacation.” This would mark a concerning escalation in Russia’s campaign to abduct and Russify Ukrainian children.
“We condemn Russia’s scheme to force even more Ukrainian children into reeducation camps or send them to Russia under the guise of providing a holiday break. Ukrainian children in areas of Ukraine illegally occupied by Russia already are subject to Russification in school. Teenage boys abducted to Russia face forced military indoctrination and conscription. These acts are a serious violation of international law and amount to war crimes and genocide. Russia must stop these criminal acts – the protection of Ukrainian children living in occupied territories and the return of those forcibly taken to Russia and Russian-controlled areas should be at the forefront of any peace plan.”
Background:
Ukrainian authorities estimated by 2023 that as many as 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred to Russia or Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine. They, as well as children living in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, have been subjected to Russification in an apparent effort to erase their Ukrainian identity; older boys have been forced to fight with the Russian military against their own country. As of March 2025, only 1,236 Ukrainian children have been returned from Russia. Russian authorities have openly registered more than 700,000 Ukrainian children within Russia, yet the Kremlin has refused to provide information on children taken to Russia and instead has changed names and citizenship in an effort to conceal its actions. Under the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism, independent experts reported that Russia’s transfer of children and their subjection to pro-Russian targeted re-education constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law and in certain cases could amount to a war crime.
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