Russia kept at least 6,000 Ukrainian children in special places around Crimea and Russia in which the minors were kept for political re-education, according to a U.S.-backed report.

As the report says Yale University researchers identified at least 43 camps and other facilities where Ukrainian minors were kept in a system working as a “large-scale systematic network” run by the Russian state since the beginning of the war.

!NEW REPORT!: Russia has held more than 6,000 children from Ukraine in 43+ camps and other facilities for systematic re-education, and in some cases foster/adoption from Black Sea to Russia’s Far East finds @HRL_YaleSPH in @ObserveConflict @StateCSO https://t.co/x7WoSnH5Ia pic.twitter.com/yT5urd5Bcb

— Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at YSPH (@HRL_YaleSPH) February 14, 2023
The group of children being taken by Russia consists of both war orphans, those living in facilities without parents, and children that have parents in Ukraine.


“The primary purpose of the camp facilities we’ve identified appears to be political re-education,” Nathaniel Raymond, one of the researchers, said.


Some of the children were adopted by Russian families or moved into foster care in Russia. Many children, even those aged only 14 were put into military training.

Read our report on #Russia's #reeducation and, in some cases, #adoption of #children from #Ukraine https://t.co/n3qDvuaHv6

— Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at YSPH (@HRL_YaleSPH) February 14, 2023
“What is documented in this report is a clear violation of the 4th Geneva Convention,” said Raymond.


He said the content of the report could be the documentation of the crime of genocide.


“This network stretches from one end of Russia to the other,” the scholar said.