Russia Recruiting Abducted Ukrainian Children Into Army, Zelensky Says
Summary
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia has begun recruiting some Ukrainian children taken during the war into its armed forces. Ukraine says Russia has taken more than 20,000 children since its full-scale invasion began in February 2022; U.N. experts have documented deportations and said many children remain in Russia.Key Facts
- Zelensky made the recruitment allegation during a visit to Madrid, according to Ukraine’s state news agency.
- Kyiv says more than 20,000 Ukrainian children have been taken from annexed parts of Ukraine since February 2022.
- Ukrainian officials say just over a tenth of those children have returned, while thousands are officially listed as missing.
- U.N. experts said they had verified that more than 1,200 children were taken from five Ukrainian regions.
- The experts said roughly 80 percent of those verified children had not returned and were in Russian institutions or placed with adoptive parents in Russia.
- Russia denies abducting children and says it evacuated vulnerable young people from conflict zones.
- The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in 2023 for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova over alleged unlawful deportations and transfers of Ukrainian children.
- Ukraine said one child and her mother returned from the partly Russian-controlled Kherson region on Thursday; five other children and young adults had returned to Ukrainian-held territory since October 29.
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