Kyiv says Russia sends Ukrainian children to Far East

Russia continues to deport Ukrainian children from occupied territories. The latest reports indicate that the occupiers have begun sending minors to the Russian Far East, the National Resistance Center (NRC) said.

“Russia transported a group of schoolchildren from Shakhtarsk in the Donetsk Region to Sakhalin under the pretense of a ‘university program,’” the NRC said.

The children involved are described as high-achievers, participants in pro-Kremlin clubs, and teenagers from families of Russian military personnel. During the program, minors are taken on tours, given tours of universities, and encouraged to build their future in the Russian Far East.

“This is not an ‘educational trip’ — it is part of Russia’s colonial program aimed at assimilating Ukrainian children and removing them from their cultural environment,” the NRC said. “Children are being taught a ‘Sakhalin mindset,’ given integration lessons, and prepared for relocation.”

The government agency said that this initiative mirrors past programs that are designed to deport the adult population from temporarily occupied territories to Siberia.

“Now Russia is launching a second phase — the relocation of youth from occupied territories. Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands are underpopulated and economically depressed regions. The Russian government is attempting to populate them with Ukrainian children, using the temporarily occupied territories as a ‘demographic resource,’” the NRC said.