Russia is sending some of the Ukrainian children it took out of the temporarily occupied territories to military camps in the DPRK.
This was stated at hearings in the US Senate by Kateryna Rashevska, an expert at the regional human rights center, according to the Senate website.
According to her, human rights activists have documented 165 camps where children are militarized and Russified. They operate in the occupied territories, in Russia and Belarus, as well as in North Korea.
In particular, Rashevska spoke about 12-year-old Mykhailo from the Donetsk region and 16-year-old Lisa from Simferopol — both were sent to a camp in the DPRK 9 000 kilometers from home.
At the camp, children are taught to "destroy Japanese militarists" and introduced to Korean veterans who attacked the American ship Pueblo in 1968. Nine US servicemen were killed or wounded.
Deportation of Ukrainian children
It is estimated that almost 19 500 abducted Ukrainian children are currently in the Russian Federation. More than 1 600 children have been returned home.
In September, researchers discovered more than 200 Russian institutions for the "re-education" of Ukrainian children — where they assemble drones and undergo airborne training. In the detention centers, some of the children were involved in a Russian program of forced upbringing and adoption, after which they were transferred to Russian families and granted Russian citizenship.
In November, Ukraine identified 400 locations in Russia where Russians had taken abducted children. There is evidence that Belarus is also involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children.
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