Russia sent Ukrainian children to North Korea ‘re-education’ camps, Kyiv says
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Ukrainian representative Kateryna Rashevska holding up a photograph of what Ukraine says are abducted children sent to North Korea by Russia for “re-education”, at a US Senate hearing in Washington on Dec 3.
PHOTO: AFP
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- Ukraine alleges Russia sent abducted Ukrainian children to North Korea for "re-education" in camps, including Songdowon, citing rights group testimony.
- Dmytro Lubinets reported 165 camps in Russia, Belarus, occupied Ukraine and North Korea, where children endure "re-education" programmes.
- Kyiv claims Russia abducted nearly 20,000 children since 2022, while Russia claims the moves are for the children’s safety.
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KYIV - Russia has sent some of the thousands of Ukrainian children it has abducted from occupied territory to North Korea for “re-education”, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman said Dec 4.
The official, Mr Dmytro Lubinets, did not say how many children Russia had taken to North Korea – a highly repressive autocracy that has intensified cooperation with Moscow in recent years – and Russia made no immediate public comment.
Citing testimony published by a Kyiv-based human rights group, Mr Lubinets said there was a network of 165 “camps” where Russia was attempting to re-educate the children – in occupied Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, as well as in North Korea.
A representative from the Regional Centre for Human Rights (RCHR) – who Mr Lubinets was citing – reported in testimony to the US Senate on Dec 3 that at least some of the children were sent to the Songdowon summer camp on North Korea’s eastern coast.
There, they were taught to “destroy Japanese militarists” and met Korean veterans responsible for seizing a US spy ship in 1968.
The Ukrainian government says Russia has abducted or forcibly displaced almost 20,000 children since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Russia has acknowledged moving some children since launching its offensive, but says it did so for their own safety and is trying to reunite them with their families – an assertion Ukraine rejects.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin
