In a grave new allegation, Ukraine's top human rights official has accused Russia of transporting some of the thousands of Ukrainian children it has allegedly abducted to North Korea for what is termed 're-education'. The claim adds a disturbing international dimension to the ongoing war crimes accusations against Moscow.
Allegations of a Transnational Camp Network
Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, made the serious charge on Thursday. He stated that Russia has moved an unspecified number of Ukrainian children from occupied territories to the isolated state of North Korea. Lubinets cited information from the Kyiv-based Regional Center for Human Rights (RCHR), which has been investigating the forced displacement of minors.
The RCHR has reported the existence of a vast network comprising 165 camps where Russian authorities are allegedly attempting to re-educate Ukrainian children. According to their findings, these facilities are not confined to Russian-controlled areas but are spread across occupied Ukraine, Belarus, Russia itself, and now North Korea.
Testimony Points to Specific North Korean Camp
Adding concrete details to the allegation, a representative from the RCHR provided testimony before the United States Senate on Wednesday. The official stated that at least some of the abducted Ukrainian children were taken to a known site: the Songdowon summer camp located on North Korea's eastern coast.
At this camp, the children were reportedly subjected to a specific ideological curriculum. They were taught to 'destroy Japanese militarists' and were introduced to North Korean veterans who were involved in the 1968 seizure of the US spy ship, the USS Pueblo. This indicates a deliberate effort to indoctrinate the children with anti-Western and specific regional political narratives.
Background of the Child Displacement Crisis
This latest accusation fits into a larger and well-documented pattern. The Ukrainian government asserts that nearly 20,000 children have been abducted or forcibly displaced by Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Moscow has acknowledged moving children but frames its actions as a humanitarian mission to ensure their safety in a war zone. Russian officials claim the goal is to eventually reunite them with their families—a claim that Kyiv and international observers vehemently reject.
The issue of child deportations has already reached the highest international legal bodies. In a landmark move in 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's children's rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova. They are wanted for the alleged war crimes of unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children to Russian-controlled territory.
Russia, which is not a member of the ICC, has dismissed the warrants. It has also not issued any public comment regarding the new allegations involving North Korea. The deepening cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang in recent years provides a context for the alleged transfer, marking a serious escalation in the tactics being investigated.
