Overview
- A Ukrainian rights advocate told U.S. senators that two children, identified as Misha, 12, and Liza, 16, were transferred to North Korea’s Songdowon camp.
- Witness accounts described indoctrination at the camp, including lessons to “destroy Japanese militarists” and meetings with North Korean veterans.
- Ukraine’s human-rights ombudsman, citing the Regional Centre for Human Rights, alleged a network of about 165 re-education sites across occupied Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and North Korea.
- Kyiv reports at least 19,546 children taken from Russian-occupied areas since February 2022, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying 1,859 have been returned.
- Russia rejects accusations of mass abductions, saying some children were relocated for safety, as the ICC’s 2023 arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over alleged deportations remains in effect and a recent UN resolution urged the children’s return.