Since the beginning of the war, Ukrainian children have been taken to 210 locations in Russia and regions occupied by Russian military. More than half of them were controlled by state authorities, according to a study by the Yale University Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL).
Re-education activities for children from Ukraine were conducted in at least 130 locations (61.9%). These included cultural, patriotic, or military programs aligned with the Russian "version" of history.
In at least 39 locations, children from Ukraine underwent military training, including combat training, drone assembly, and military history education. In July 2023, the "Young Patriot" center was opened at the "Snegiri" wellness complex near Moscow (owned by the presidential administration), specifically for working with Ukrainian children. In the first year of operation, at least three groups of children from the Luhansk region completed courses on history, preparation for GTO standards, learned to assemble and disassemble weapons, and participated in military, drill, and medical training. The last group from Ukraine arrived at "Snegiri" in July 2025. Photos on social media show children organized into "platoons," with weapons and protective gear, including gas masks.
In at least two other instances, children were transported by plane, also owned by the presidential administration. For example, in July 2023, they were flown from Ukraine to the Pskov region, where they underwent airborne training.
Children were taken to at least 12 types of institutions: cadet schools, one military base, medical facilities, a religious site, secondary schools, universities, a hotel, family support centers, orphanages, camps, and sanatoriums (the last two most frequently). Two cadet schools were built after the start of the Russian invasion, and in 23.3% of the locations where abducted children were placed, there was expansion or new construction.
The Russian government directly manages more than half of the locations mentioned in this report. According to publicly available data, at least 106 of the 210 locations mentioned in the report are under the control of federal or local Russian authorities.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and the Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children.
Photo: UDPRF OK "Snegiri" center "Young Patriot"