Ukrainian children are reportedly being abducted and sent to North Korea, where they are subjected to indoctrination against Japan, according to legal expert Kateryna Rashevska. This alarming situation has emerged as part of Vladimir Putin‘s ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which has seen nearly 20,000 children forcibly taken since the invasion began in 2022. The testimony was delivered during a hearing before a US congressional subcommittee, highlighting the troubling alliance between Russia and North Korea.
Rashevska revealed that at least two Ukrainian children, a 12-year-old named Misha from the occupied Donetsk region and a 16-year-old named Liza from Simferopol, have been sent to the Songdowon Camp in North Korea. This camp is approximately 9,000 kilometers from their homes. She stated, “Children there were taught to ‘destroy Japanese militarists’ and met Korean veterans who, in 1968, attacked the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, killing and wounding nine American soldiers.”
The hearing forms part of a broader investigation into Russia’s systematic abduction of Ukrainian children, with research from the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) revealing that these children are being held in various facilities, including summer camps, military bases, and even monasteries across occupied territories and Russia. The bond between Putin and Kim Jong-un has reportedly strengthened, with North Korea now being a key supplier of arms to Russia and having deployed tens of thousands of troops to support the conflict in Ukraine.
Rashevska further noted that the Regional Center for Human Rights has identified 165 re-education camps designed to militarize and russify Ukrainian children. These camps are located in occupied territories, Russia, Belarus, and North Korea. Reports indicate that since the war escalated, the scale of these operations has dramatically increased.
According to Nathaniel Raymond, the head of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, approximately 35,000 Ukrainian children remain in Russian custody, with some forced to fight on the front lines. Ukrainian authorities estimate that this number could be as high as 300,000. As of 2025, there are around 1.6 million Ukrainian children still residing in Russian-occupied areas.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for both Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, who serves as Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, over the abduction of these children. Russia has rejected the warrants as “outrageous and unacceptable.” In her capacity, Lvova-Belova has attempted to frame the forced deportation of Ukrainian children as a humanitarian effort.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that only 1,859 children have been returned as of December 2023. Some of these children have been temporarily held before being sent back, while others remain in captivity indefinitely. Many have been integrated into a network of family centers, with some even placed in coerced fostering arrangements that aim to assimilate them into Russian families.
The emotional and psychological toll on these children is significant. An account from a teenager named Nastya, who was abducted in March 2022 from Kherson Oblast, illustrates the harrowing experiences faced by many. After being taken in by a woman who cared for multiple children, Nastya recounted incidents of abuse and humiliation before eventually reaching out to her mother for help, leading to her rescue.
As international scrutiny of Russia’s actions intensifies, the plight of Ukrainian children remains a critical issue, reflecting the broader humanitarian crisis resulting from the ongoing conflict.
