Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began two years ago, nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia. Of those, only 388 have been returned to their families.
Ukrainian researchers say they have uncovered dozens of facilities in Russia and Belarus where forcibly deported Ukrainians have been held since Russia's invasion began.
Researchers say that parents are tortured for information and forced to work in prison camps while their children are sent elsewhere — first to occupied territories like Donetsk and Luhansk, and then to Russia or Belarus.
Entire families have also been forcibly deported, Kyiv says, telling the United Nations in December 2022 that more than 2.5 million Ukrainians of all ages were deported in the initial months of Russia’s invasion.
Clearly to ensure Ukrainian children don't grow up in their own culture, and one prong of their overarching plan to destroy that culture and cultural identity.