JAKARTA - Russia is expected to detain some 6,000 Ukrainian children, possibly more, in a number of places in Russia's Crimean territory to the country's own territory, with its main goal of political reeducation, according to a report published Tuesday.
The report said researchers from Yale University had identified at least 43 camps and other facilities where Ukrainian children were being held, part of a large-scale systematic network Moscow has operated since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The children include those who have clear parents or guardians of families, those who are considered orphans by Russia, others were under the care of Ukrainian state agencies prior to the invasion and those whose custody was unclear or uncertain due to the war, the report said.
"The main goal of the camp facility that we identify appears to be political re-education," Nathaniel Raymond, one of the researchers at a briefing to reporters, told Reuters on February 15.
Several children were transferred through the system and adopted by Russian families, or transferred to orphanages in Russia, the report said.
The smallest child identified in Russia's program is only four months old, and some camps provide military training to 14-year-old children, Raymond said, adding that researchers found no evidence that the children were then deployed in combat.
Responding to the report, the Russian Embassy in Washington said Russia was accepting children forced to flee Ukraine.
"We are doing our best to look after minors in the family, and in cases of absence or death of parents and relatives, to transfer orphans under guardianship," explained the embassy at Telegram.
The report is the latest produced by the Yale University School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab, as part of a State Department-backed project that has examined human rights violations and war crimes allegedly committed by Russia.
"What is documented in this report is clearly a violation of the 4th Geneva Convention, an agreement that protects civilians during times of war," Raymond said.
He said it could also be evidence that Russia had committed genocide during its war in Ukraine, as the transfer of children for the purpose of changing, modifying or eliminating national identities could be part of a genocide crime.
Ukrainian prosecutors said they were examining allegations of forced deportation of children as part of an attempt to build charges of genocide against Russia.
"This network stretches from one end of Russia to another," said Raymond, adding that researchers believed that the number of facilities where Ukrainian children were being held exceeded 43.
The camp system and adoption of Ukrainian children by Russian families taken from their homeland "seems to be legalized and coordinated at the highest level of Russian rule," the report said, starting with President Vladimir Putin and extending to local officials.
Separately, the US State Department called the Russian children's camp a "war crime".
"Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to rob Ukraine's future by taking his children," State Department spokesman Ned Price said, citing The National News.
"The forced relocation, reeducation and adoption system of Ukrainian children in Russia is a key element of the Kremlin's systematic efforts to reject and suppress Ukraine's identity, history and culture," he explained.
According to the report, parents are often forced to sign their children's power of attorney when under coercion and their desire is routinely ignored.
"We are always looking for people who may be responsible for war crimes, for atrocities within Ukraine," Price said.
"Just because we haven't sanctioned individuals to date, it means nothing about any future action we might take."
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