Saturday, August 02, 2025

Russia treats abducted Ukrainian children like pawns

From the USA Today / Yahoo!News:

"Russia abducts Ukrainian kids and treats them like prisoners of war. Save them. | Opinion

Steven Moore and Colby Barrett

Under international law, infants, toddlers and teenagers who have an inherent right to life must be protected during wars and not moved to an enemy state.

But since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Russians have treated Ukrainian children more like prisoners of war and pawns in President Vladimir Putin's effort to forge a new Russian empire.

About 20,000 children have been abducted from their families by Russia, the Ukrainian government has verified. That number is likely well into the six figures now, but it’s difficult to get information out of occupied Ukraine, and the Russians aren't helping.

Moscow has sent some teens to Russian camps where they’re brainwashed to forget their nationality and receive military training. Some teens have told us that they’re encouraged to take up arms against their home country

One boy, who was 16 when abducted, said he refused to sing the Russian national anthem, which was required each morning, and was thrown into solitary confinement four times. Fortunately, after nearly a year he managed to escape the camp, aided by Save Ukraine, a group that has rescued 630 children.

The teen, whose first name is Rostyslav ‒ we can’t use his last name for fear of reprisals against his family ‒ tells his compelling story in our documentary "A Faith Under Siege," which will premiere May 10 on the Christian Broadcasting Network News.

Putin accused of war crimes in kidnapping Ukrainian children

Along with the teens, the younger children suffer from having been torn away from their families, including some who were turned into orphans by Russians who killed their parents.

At least those children are still alive. Five boys and two girls have been "summarily executed” in Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine, meaning they were accused of crimes and not even given a trial, according to a United Nations report.

As early as February 2023, a year after Russia’s invasion, thousands of children were already shipped to 43 reeducation camps across Russia, including in Siberia and a city near the Pacific Ocean, nearly 4,000 miles from the Ukrainian border. At the camps, the children are forced to attend Russian schools, where they’re forbidden from speaking their native language and are taught from new textbooks to love Russia and hate Ukraine and the West.

Yet indoctrinating children in schools isn’t enough for the Kremlin. They want to make them Russian citizens, and Russia does so by forcing Ukrainian orphans to get Russian passports. Once they do, returning to Ukraine, even to their extended families, would violate Russian law against international “adoptions.”

Russia’s actions are a gruesome reminder of Nazi Germany’s effort in World War II to turn about 200,000 Polish children into Aryans – a move that was considered a war crime..."

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