This investigation by In Depth Reports uncovers Russia’s systematic abduction, indoctrination, and militarization of Ukrainian children from occupied territories since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Drawing on six months of fieldwork, firsthand testimonies, and open-source analysis, the report reveals how thousands of children — some orphaned, others taken from their families — were deported to Russia under false pretenses of “protection” or “evacuation.”
Once inside Russia, these children are stripped of their identities, re-registered under Russian names, and placed in patriotic camps, foster families, or state-run institutions. Many are funneled into programs like the “Youth Army,” where they undergo military training and ideological re-education. In some cases, they are issued Russian passports and added to military conscription lists upon turning 18 — a direct violation of international humanitarian law.
The report includes exclusive interviews with survivors like Bohdan Yermokhin and Artem, as well as testimonies from families, legal experts, and repatriation workers. It also features verified visual evidence from Russian school websites and Telegram channels, showing children in military-style uniforms adorned with the pro-war “Z” symbol.
This investigation provides one of the most detailed and human-centered accounts to date of what may be the largest child abduction campaign in Europe since WWII — raising urgent questions about accountability, international response, and the long-term trauma inflicted on Ukraine’s next generation.
By: Anna Kübler, Luca Romano ( In Depth Reports)
In the spring of 2022, Russian forces abducted Bohdan Yermokhin from the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, flew him to Moscow on a government plane, and placed him into a foster family. He was then sent to a so-called “patriotic” camp near the capital, where flag-waving staff praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and attempted to teach him nationalist songs.
He was issued a Russian passport, enrolled in a Russian school, and shortly before his 18th birthday in the fall of 2023, received a summons from a Russian military recruitment office. For Yermokhin, this marked the final step in what he described to In Depth Reports as a systematic attempt to erase his Ukrainian identity and conscript him to fight against his own country.
“They told me Ukraine was losing, that children were used for organ donations there, and that I’d be sent to the war right away,” Yermokhin said in an interview in Kyiv, where he is now recovering. “I told them: if I’m going to war, I’ll fight for my country — not for them.”
Yermokhin was one of the so-called “Mariupol 31,” a group of children forcibly transferred to Russia. Ukrainian authorities estimate that more than 20,000 children have been deported to Russia since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Over 2,100 children remain officially missing, but Ukrainian officials told In Depth Reports the true number is likely much higher.
Bohdan Yermokhin, 18, in central Kyiv. Ivana Kottasova.
Many of the children and teenagers forcibly transferred to Russia were initially processed through so-called “filtration centers” — facilities used by Russian forces to interrogate and screen civilians before deportation. Testimonies collected for this report include 18 individuals: 15 from Mariupol, one from Donetsk, and two from the Kharkiv region. At least 10 of them described undergoing this filtration process before being separated from their families, assigned new identities, or sent to “patriotic” camps.
Forcible Deportation
As Russia’s war on Ukraine drags into its third year, a silent atrocity continues to unfold: the large-scale abduction, re-education, and militarization of Ukrainian children from occupied territories. Backed by state institutions and military propaganda networks, this campaign tears children from their families and transforms them into tools of war — a direct violation of international humanitarian law. With peace negotiations stalling, the fate of these children emerges as a defining test for the world’s moral and legal response to Russia’s war crimes.
Since February 2022, Russian authorities have forcibly deported Ukrainian children from hospitals, orphanages, and families under the guise of evacuation, rehabilitation, or protection. Once across the border, these minors are placed in “temporary accommodation centers” where their Ukrainian identities are stripped.
According to Ukraine’s official registry, 19,546 children have been documented as forcibly deported. But NGOs such as the 5 AM Coalition estimate the true figure lies between 260,000 and 700,000 — numbers that may represent the largest child abduction campaign in Europe since WWII. As of June 2025, only 1,359 children have been successfully returned.
Deported Ukrainian Children and Detention Sites (Sketch Map)
A 2024 OSCE report confirms that Ukrainian children were forcibly deported to Russia or transferred within occupied territories—a violation classified as a war crime. The report details how many children were placed in environments stripped of Ukrainian culture and subjected to military training and pro-Russian indoctrination.
It also highlights legal changes that allowed Russia to fast-track citizenship and adoptions, often without efforts to reunite children with their families. Frequent relocations, name changes, and the lack of a centralized registry have made repatriation nearly impossible, reinforcing claims of a deliberate strategy to erase identity and block return.
Additionally, the children are repeatedly moved from place to place, and sometimes referred to by Russian, not Ukrainian, names. Even if Ukrainian families manage to locate a child, they encounter numerous logistical and financial difficulties in returning that child to Ukraine.
Russia’s “Youth Army” and Militarization
Once in Russia, the children’s transformation begins. Through state-sponsored programs like Yunarmiya (Youth Army), “Movement of the First,” and “Eagles of Russia,” thousands are subjected to ideological re-education, military training, and propaganda.
Yunarmiya, created in 2016 by Russia’s Ministry of Defense, now boasts 1.3 million members and an annual budget of $80 million. Children as young as six are taught firearm skills, drone operations, and loyalty to the Russian state. They are immersed in a glorified version of war, idolizing Russian military “heroes” and denouncing the West.
“They made my son march, wear a Russian uniform, and chant slogans against Ukraine,” said Oksana, a mother from Kherson whose 14-year-old son was abducted and later conscripted. “He was turned into someone I no longer recognize.”
By 2021, 29,000 children in Russian-occupied Crimea and 7,500 in Donetsk and Luhansk had already been recruited. Reports have documented since the 2022 full-scale invasion indicate that similar programs now operate in newly occupied regions like Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
“It’s not theoretical,” said Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner, in an interview with In Depth Reports. “We now have examples of forcible mobilization. All Ukrainian teenagers held in Russia, when they turn 18, are put on military recruitment lists.”
Lubinets explained that the strategy involves not only conscription but identity erasure:
“The education system uses new textbooks where Ukraine never existed. Children are forced to sing the Russian anthem. And if you don’t take a Russian passport, you don’t get medical care. Then comes the draft.”
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, such practices violate the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit occupying powers from conscripting locals. Human Rights Watch has also confirmed that Russia is committing a war crime by forcibly recruiting Ukrainians.
There are growing concerns that Russia could forcibly conscript these children to fight against their own country—a clear war crime in violation of Article 8 of the Rome Statute. This fear isn’t unfounded: Since 2022, Russia has forcibly conscripted up to 60,000 Ukrainian men, including a few thousand from occupied Donetsk and Luhansk. At least 75 of them have been killed.
Indoctrination in Camps
Russia also runs so-called “educational” camps, advertised as therapeutic or rehabilitative retreats. In reality, these facilities serve as centers of propaganda and paramilitary training.
A Yale Humanitarian Research Lab report identified facilities like the School of Future Commanders in occupied Crimea, which hosted about 50 Ukrainian children. Another program, the Leader Youth Club (formerly Wagner Youth), encourages youth aged 16–25 to build drones for Russia’s military.
“This isn’t about care, it’s recruitment,” said Dmitry K., a human rights lawyer advising repatriation efforts, in a statement to In Depth Reports. “Russia is preparing these children to fight against their own country.”
Programs like Vympel summer camps, linked to Russian special forces, now operate more than 100 branches across 50 regions, blending military drills with ideological training.
How one Ukrainian teen was deported to Russia before being summoned to fight
Bohdan Yermokhin is one of the nearly 20,000 children Ukraine says have been deported to Russia. He was taken from Mariupol to Moscow in the spring of 2022. He was given a Russian passport and placed into a foster family. Shortly before his 18th birthday, he received a summons from the Russian military.
‘We Are Losing These Children’
Many deported children come from socially vulnerable backgrounds. Some were orphaned or separated from family during the chaos of war.
“We are losing these children,” said Mykola Kuleba, head of the Kyiv-based NGO Save Ukraine, in an interview with In Depth Reports. “They are growing up poisoned by propaganda. Many may never come back.”
Yermokhin experienced this firsthand. Orphaned at a young age, he lived in foster homes and a boarding school in Mariupol before being abducted by Russian troops. He told In Depth Reports:
“The Russians came and pretended to care. They offered warmth when everyone else abandoned us.”
His friend Filip, also abducted from Mariupol, was reportedly adopted by Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner. In a 2022 Telegram post, Lvova-Belova confirmed adopting a boy named Filip.
“Filip lost his mother and was abandoned. Now he feels safe, but I want him to know we are waiting for him,” said Yermokhin.
Singing the Anthem, Wearing the Uniform
Sixteen-year-old Artem, another survivor, was one of 13 children taken by Russian soldiers from a school in the Kharkiv region. He spoke with In Depth Reports from a Kyiv rehabilitation center.
“They told us we were being evacuated. Boys, girls, even little children. We had no choice,” he said.
After being shuffled through several occupied cities, Artem ended up in Luhansk, where he was forced to attend school in Russian and participate in patriotic rituals.
“They made us wear military-style uniforms with the letter Z. We had to sing the anthem. I felt like a traitor, like I had betrayed Ukraine.”
Photos and videos posted by the school show Artem in camouflage, wearing a black armband with a white “Z”—a symbol of Russian support for the invasion.
“When I saw myself in that uniform online, I was horrified. But we had no choice. Teachers threatened us if we refused.”
Eventually, Artem contacted his mother via cellphone. With Save Ukraine’s help, she brought him back home. Yermokhin, too, tried to escape Russia twice but was only released upon turning 18.
“They tried to break me,” he told In Depth Reports. “Looking back, I’m shocked I made it through.”
Thousands of children remain trapped inside Russia or in occupied territories. Some have been enrolled in military academies. According to Save Ukraine, only 251 children have been successfully returned so far.
The office of Maria Lvova-Belova did not respond to repeated requests for comment from In Depth Reports.
“This is a Russian strategy,” Kuleba told In Depth Reports. “They kidnap our children, erase their identity, and militarize them. It’s a war not just against Ukraine but against the next generation.”