In 2025, Russia took almost 11,000 Ukrainian children to re-education camps
In 2025, the Russian Federation deported about 11,000 Ukrainian children to 164 so-called “re-education” camps, where programs are becoming increasingly militarized.
This was reported by the Regional Human Rights Center, according to Media Center Ukraine.
According to experts, 102 cases of illegal transfer of children were documented in 2023–2024, involving at least 8,270 minors in total. To this end, Russia used 98 different institutions on its own territory and in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.
In 2025, the scale of the crime only increased: the number of institutions where children were sent rose to 164.
“The program in these camps is becoming increasingly militarized,” emphasized human rights activist Kateryna Rashevska.
According to researchers’ observations, abducted children often suffer from “lost connection syndrome” — the result of systematic attempts by the Russian Federation to isolate them from their families and the Ukrainian environment. In fact, since 2014, and especially since 2022, the re-education and Russification of Ukrainian children has become official state policy of the Kremlin. The goal is to eradicate Ukrainian identity and foster loyalty to the “Russian world.”
Russia justifies its actions by claiming the need to “save” children from the fighting, but international experts call this a crime against humanity.
Global reaction
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is preparing a summit of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.
- The United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on 11 individuals and entities involved in the deportation and re-education of children.
- In Ukraine, experts emphasize that, in addition to repatriation, special attention must be paid to the psychological rehabilitation of children who have survived isolation and indoctrination.
