According to a US study, Russia is said to have abducted at least 6,000 Ukrainian children and taken them to re-education camps. The aim is a “pro-Russian patriotic” education. The Kremlin denies the allegations.
According to a US study, Russia has sent at least 6,000 Ukrainian children to re-education camps, possibly committing war crimes. Experts identify 43 such camps in Russia and Russia’s annexed Crimea peninsula in a Yale Humanitarian Research Lab report released on Tuesday.
US study: Russia is said to have abducted thousands of Ukrainian children
Children as young as four months old have been taken to Russian camps since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine began almost a year ago, according to the study funded by the US State Department. The aim is, among other things, “pro-Russian patriotic” and military-style education. In some cases, children received firearms training. However, there is no indication that the children were sent to war.
Yale researcher Nathaniel Raymond said Russia’s actions represent a “clear violation” of the Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilians in War. In some cases, it could amount to “a war crime and a crime against humanity.” Raymond likened the Russian actions to kidnappings. The authors of the study call for independent observers to have access to the camps and for an end to Russian adoptions of Ukrainian children.
The study is based, among other things, on the evaluation of satellite images. Accordingly, the actual number of Ukrainian children brought to the camp is likely to be “significantly higher” than the at least 6,000 identified.
Russia denies the “absurd statements” and speaks of saving children
Russia has dismissed the allegations as “absurd statements”. The Russian embassy in the United States said on Wednesday that the children and their relatives were being taken to safety from being shelled by Ukrainian forces. “We do everything possible to keep the underage citizens with their families – and in the event of the absence or death of parents and relatives, to give care to the orphans.”
Satellite images from Ukraine
The horror from above – this is how it currently looks in Soledar
The Russian embassy claimed that the “Kiev regime” was responsible for the deaths and injuries of children. Last year, 153 children were killed in Donbass, which was occupied by Russian troops, as a result of Kiev’s “actions” and weapons supplied by the West. 279 children were injured.
The Ukrainian armed forces would strike civilian infrastructure with US Himar-type multiple rocket launchers, which would also hit schools, kindergartens and hospitals, the embassy claimed. Ukraine also repeatedly accuses Russian troops of shelling such civilian facilities.
Source: Stern
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