cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/4567049

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The number of such centers [where abducted Ukrainian children live in Russia] are similar to Soviet-era youth camps and have mushroomed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Critics warn they are being used to indoctrinate children and prepare them for eventual service in the Russian military.

Human rights experts say the so-called re-education of deported Ukrainian children has become state policy in Russia since early 2022 when the all-out invasion began. Researchers describe a “lost connection syndrome” among abducted children, which is the result of deliberate efforts to sever them from their cultural and social roots.

“Russian officials are trying to portray the deportation of Ukrainian children as care and protection. In reality, this propaganda only obstructs efforts to bring the children home,” human rights defenders said.

Between 2023 and 2024, at least 8,270 children were confirmed transferred to 98 facilities in Russia and occupied territories, with 102 separate cases of forced relocation recorded.

Meanwhile, Russians have opened more than 250 “specialized” classes, nearly 100 of them with a military focus, in schools across the occupied part of the Luhansk region this academic year.