35,000. That's how many Ukrainian children are believed to have been kidnapped by Russia during the war, according to estimates from the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University in the US. The youngest were only a few months old when they were taken to Russia.
Their identity is being rewritten. They are told that their country never existed, that Ukraine does not care about them, that they should give up their language and culture, says Olena Khomenko, who leads the work on the abducted children in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
The few children who were rescued are traumatized and need years of rehabilitation to reintegrate into a Ukrainian context, according to Khomenko. The children tell stories of indoctrination and humiliation – and in several cases, harsh military training.
They learn mining, mine clearance, how to throw grenades. They learn how to handle all kinds of weapons – and these are not lessons, these are real military exercises.
Little children absorb everything.
The brainwashing goes deep. The children are told that they should be proud to serve in the Russian army, that it is a sacrifice “for the motherland.” They are not allowed to speak Ukrainian – the slightest word can lead to humiliating punishment, says Olena Khomenko. For the youngest, it is difficult to defend themselves.
"Little children absorb everything without a filter," she says.
Many of the older ones, the teenagers, oppose and refuse. But then they are punished, and their families in the occupied territories are threatened.
Russia's goal is to erase Ukrainian identity and turn children into weapons, says Khomenko. She thinks this should set alarm bells ringing in Europe as well.
These children are growing up in an ideology where the West and NATO are the enemy.
Want to see the deployment force
Olena Khomenko calls for targeted sanctions that reach the people on the ground: regional governors, principals, organizations involved in deportations and adoptions.
This is a large network. We need to sanction every single individual involved.
Nathaniel Raymond, who leads the Humanitarian Research Lab's work to find the abducted children, is deeply critical of the West's inaction.
Europe has not stepped up. I sit on panel after panel with Europeans expressing their anger, but nothing happens.
He compares it to the years after the genocide in Srebrenica, where a wide range of international organizations and thousands of people were involved in the search for missing people.
We should go in with a task force – handle it like a hostage situation at a bank or a school shooting.
During the course of the war, Russia has kidnapped Ukrainian children and taken them to Russia or Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
According to calculations from the Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at Yale University, there could be as many as 35,000 Ukrainian children.
In a September 2025 report, HRL identified more than 200 different locations where children had been taken, including summer camps, cadet schools, nursing homes and a military base. More than half of the locations are run by federal or local governments, according to public data.
In a majority of the identified locations, there are attempts to “re-educate” children to share Russia’s worldview.
What is described as military training and indoctrination is taking place in at least 39 locations. Some of the children are reportedly involved in weapons manufacturing for the Russian military.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for the illegal transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children.
