Occupants plan to deport tens of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia during the summer - ISW
Kyiv • UNN
The Russian authorities are preparing to intensify the deportation of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia in the summer of 2024 under the guise of summer camps and vacations, which is an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.
Russian authorities are preparing to intensify the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia during the summer of 2024. This is stated in a new report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) for May 29, according to UNN.
Details
The head of the so-called "lPR" Leonid Pasichnyk said on May 27 that the regions that are subjects of the Russian Federation will "host" more than 12,000 children from the occupied Luhansk region in 2024, and the Russian program "Useful Vacations" will sponsor 40,000 children from occupied Ukraine to "visit" summer camps and educational events in Russia.
Pasichnyk also reported that summer camps for children in occupied Crimea and in Russia are preparing to “receive” more than 600 children from occupied Ukraine during the summer, including the Ocean summer camp in Vladivostok, a seaside region (which is closer to Alaska than Ukraine).
The occupation “ministry of labor” of Kherson region also reported that an unspecified number of children from the occupied Kherson region will go to the “Ocean” camp for an “educational, sports and cultural program.”
On May 27, the occupation senator from Kherson region, Andriy Alekseenko, said that 575 children will go to three-week summer camps in occupied Crimea and the Russian Republic of Adygea.
The occupation "Ministry of Education and Science of the LPR" reported that an unspecified number of teenagers from the occupied Luhansk region will attend the military-patriotic sports camp "Avangard" in the Volgograd region of Russia. There, they will be trained in military engineering, tactics, firearms training, parachuting, communications, national security basics, drone control and tactical medicine
SW notes that despite Russia's attempts to present the summer camps for Ukrainian children as temporary recreational and educational activities, they are a fundamental component of Russia's campaign to deport Ukrainians, including children, to Russia.
Forcible transfer of children from one group to another is a recognized act of genocide, and therefore Russia's multifaceted schemes to deport Ukrainian children to Russia can be classified as acts of genocide
Analysts emphasize that Ukrainian children deported to Russia for such “vacations” or “summer camps” face Russification programs aimed at isolating them from their Ukrainian families, language, culture and history.
Russian authorities are likely to step up deportation efforts over the summer under the guise of summer vacation, but these programs - despite Russia's attempts to cover them up with temporary and positive educational opportunities - are acts of genocide against the Ukrainian people, ISW said.
