"We're Here for Your Children"

The Russian Kidnappings of Ukrainian Children

Illustration by Jonathan Rockford

Another day begins in a small village in the Ukrainian region of Kherson. The morning is relatively peaceful for a place that Russia has occupied for more than four years. Ukrainian didi (grandfathers) lament the lack of cabbage in the markets while babusi (grandmothers) collect mushrooms at the edge of the forest. Children from the local orphanage play in the yard. 

Suddenly, the quiet is pierced by the sound of armored military vehicles. When the trucks roll to a stop in the village center, masked Russian soldiers pour out. They’ve come not to wage war on the village or demand supplies from its citizens, but rather to give candy to the children at the orphanage.

Once the soldiers have gained the Ukrainian children's trust with a few chocolates, they will load them into their trucks and drive them further behind Russian lines. There, Russian “caretakers” will indoctrinate the Ukrainian children into Russian nationalism. They will change their names and give them new passports and birth certificates. Finally, they will send them to be adopted by Russian families. 

Why is Russia Stealing Children?

Though Russia claims it is taking Ukrainian children to save them from the war, this hardly explains the new birth certificates and indoctrination camps. Ukraine, instead, argues that the deportation of children is part of a greater strategy to integrate Ukraine fully into Russia.

Through targeting the country’s youngest and most vulnerable generation, Ukraine, international legal experts, and human rights organizations argue that Russia is trying to erase Ukrainian identity. If Russia succeeds in turning every Ukrainian child into a Russian citizen, the future of Ukrainian identity will, in theory, cease to exist.

How Ukrainian Children are Being Indoctrinated with Russian Nationalism

Russia is working to erase Ukrainian identity through large-scale institutions which impact both Ukrainian children who simply live in Russian-occupied territory and those who have already been taken. 

Ukrainian children in occupied territories are forcibly enrolled in youth organizations such as Yunarmiya or “The Youth Army,” where they receive a militarized education about Russian history and national values. Russia has a history of using children’s organizations like The Youth Army as a method of spreading its values across generations. During the Soviet Union, children were enrolled in a similar sociopolitical organization called The Young Pioneers. Like the Soviet Young Pioneers, Yunarmiya is designed to socialize the children through military education, patriotic activities, and state-sponsored engagement.

The Youth Army portrays Russian soldiers as heroes and role models. Children are often enrolled in weapons training, and Ukrainian parents are sometimes made to sign release forms for their children to go to training exercises or summer camps with the organization. Despite being told their children will only be gone for a short time, they do not return.

Once children are taken, they go to camps either in Russia or further behind Russian lines in Ukraine. Many testimonies from returned children indicate that they were not allowed to speak Ukrainian or express their Ukrainian cultural identity in any way. They instead spent time writing letters to Russian soldiers, participating in military drills designed for children, and singing the Russian national anthem. The children reported to United24 Media that they were placed in isolation cells or physically punished for disobedience or refusal to participate.  

This treatment of children serves two specific purposes: forcing pro-Russian nationalistic beliefs onto the children and erasing their Ukrainian culture and identity. This erasure, in turn, threatens the future of a Ukrainian national identity. 

The Impacts of the Kidnappings

The kidnappings are extremely stressful and psychologically harmful to Ukrainian children. Psychologists are finding it to be extremely difficult to reverse the impacts and thought patterns of indoctrination, reporting that those who come back to Ukraine are traumatized and alarmingly docile. One psychologist described some returned children as behaving like obedient “little soldiers,”  displaying symptoms of trauma, emotional withdrawal, and apathy. 

In addition to the difficult reversal of indoctrination, stolen children are suffering psychological consequences on an individual level. Those who return are reported to have “left normal” and come back completely changed. One kidnapped child died by suicide in Russia while living with an adoptive family in Krasnodar. 

Even if Russian soldiers were to stop kidnapping children and return all of those who have already been stolen, the psychological toll on Ukraine’s youngest generation will continue to have a widespread impact. Some estimates suggest that more than 200,000 Ukrainian children have been taken. But because soldiers largely target orphans in group homes, foster children, and children whose parents have died during the war, many do not have anyone in Ukraine who would know to look for them. It’s hard to know just how many children are missing.

How Can the International Community Help Ukraine’s Children?

Despite the fact that international organizations have condemned the deportation of Ukrainian children and demanded their immediate return, fewer than 1,400 children have been brought home as of June 2025. Russia refuses to discuss the issue publicly, often denying taking children at all. Additionally, because many children’s legal documentation has been changed by Russia and international organizations lack access to occupied areas, recovery efforts are tedious and slow-going. 

Because stolen Ukrainian children rarely make headlines, one of the first steps international organizations, governments, and news sources can take is to recognize the plight of kidnapped Ukrainian children. Greater public recognition of the situation may lead to its inclusion in more negotiations and peace talks with Russia. It should be one of the underlying reasons for continued sanctions and international condemnation. Even as Russia is trying to erase the true identities of Ukrainian children, the international community can help ensure they are recognized. 

International organizations can also partner with Ukrainian organizations such as Save Ukraine, Bring Kids Back, and Children of War. These organizations know the most about the missing children, have established contact with some Ukrainian families whose children have been taken, and most importantly, are already working to get them back.

The Future of Ukraine

Russia is not only stealing children from their homes and families but also stealing the future of Ukraine’s national identity. Russia’s crimes against both the humanity of individual children and Ukraine as a nation should remain at the forefront of every negotiation, sanction, and media report. With every child whom Russia steals and every day they are not returned, the future of the Ukrainian national identity becomes more endangered. It is only with the return of these children that Ukraine’s future can be protected and the children, themselves, can begin to heal.

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Anna Kubas is an International Security student with a concentration in Strategic Intelligence. Her focus is on Russian Arctic strategy, especially regarding critical minerals and the Northern Sea Route, as well as geopolitics and sociology of the greater post-Soviet space.

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