Part of Russia’s war effort has involved relocation of Ukrainian children, from occupied areas into reeducation camps within Russian borders. Now, the efforts that have been made to rescue these children are at great risk.
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At the start of the war, relief organization Save Ukraine was focused on getting tens of thousands of Ukrainian orphans safely out of the country. As the war continued, however, it became increasingly clear that the most desperate need was to save the Ukrainian children who were being taken to Russia as part of a systematic effort, according to Save Ukraine founder Mykola Kubela.
Last month, Yale University published a report that documented the Russian relocation of some 6,000 Ukrainian children to 43 facilities in Russia. Many of those facilities are former summer camps, but the primary purpose here was not recreation. Instead, it was to “expose children from Ukraine to Russia-centric academic, cultural, patriotic, and/or military education,” according to the Yale report.
Researchers identified two camps that had placed children in foster care with Russian families. In some cases, Russian authorities had obtained broad consents from Ukrainian parents who were under duress and lacked any adequate understanding of what they were signing and/or agreeing to.
For some months, Save Ukraine has been hard at work rescuing these children, using contacts who have been helping to bring the children out of Russia. But now that dozens of news outlets have been covering this story, these rescue efforts are being hindered.
Though the Yale report numbers the children taken at about 6,000, other sources indicate that some 10,000 to 19,500 may be a more accurate number. A few hundred have been saved, but the “reeducation” efforts sometimes make recovery of these children more difficult. In an interview with Time, Kubela relates the story of one 14-year-old boy who believed that “Ukrainian Nazis” would kill him if he returned, because he had been in Russia. Russian authorities promised him a flat, a profession, and money. In fact, the boy said, “they will keep giving me money,” which indicates that part of the brainwashing program involves offering the children money. It took days for this boy’s sister to persuade him to return home to Ukraine and see his dying father.
As the Yale report found: “All levels of Russia’s government are involved: This operation is centrally coordinated by Russia’s federal government and involves every level of government. … Activities of officials allegedly implicated in the operation include logistical coordination (i.e., transporting children), raising funds, collecting supplies, direct camp management, and promoting the program within Russia and occupied areas of Ukraine.”
The Kremlin has reacted intensely to these revelations about child abductions, which now form part of a war-crimes case being built against Russian President Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Russian commissioner for children’s rights. Lvova-Belova herself adopted a Ukrainian child and is reportedly heading the Russian program.
When the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan, IFA intercessors stormed heaven with prayers in support of private-sector efforts to rescue people in danger because they were reported to have assisted the U.S. Some 17,000 were evacuated from that country. Now, we must similarly storm heaven on behalf of these Ukrainian children and the people whose lives are at risk due to the efforts they’re making to rescue them.
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