NRC: Russia plans new relocation of over 400 Ukrainian children

Russia continues to illegally deport Ukrainian children from occupied territories. Authorities in areas Russia controls have announced a new “recreation” program for children from the southern Zaporizhzhia region and by the end of the year, over 400 minors are expected to be sent to the Yaroslavl region.

The National Resistance Center (NRC) reports that these trips occur with no transparency or oversight mechanisms.

Russian authorities are calling this illicit program an “interregional exchange,” including boat trips on the Volga River, sports activities, and visits to local museums.

“However, behind this tourist rhetoric lies a different reality, the systematic and controlled relocation of Ukrainian children deeper into Russian territory,” the NRC said.

These so-called exchanges are taking place without parental consent and they have no ability to influence these forced actions, international humanitarian organizations are denied access, and the Russian side continues to present everything as a tourism program without explaining the legal basis for moving minors into the aggressor state.

Yaroslavl Gov. Mikhail Yevrayev said that the region will host around 400 children by the end of this year. Such “exchanges” are another element of Russia’s policy to integrate occupied territories into the Russian system.

“Under the guise of trips, children are removed from their family environment, subjected to ideological influence, and gradually acclimated to Russian institutions. For many families, this is not a temporary visit but a risk of prolonged isolation and loss of control over their children’s fate,” the NRC said.

In practice, Russia continues to use minors as part of a broader strategy: by fostering loyalty and attachment to the aggressor state while disguising coercive practices as ‘tourism’ and ‘cultural exchange.’

“Behind the pleasant descriptions — excursions, activities, museums — lies the main reality: the systematic removal of children from temporarily occupied territories and their inclusion in spaces controlled by Russia,” the NRC said.