Overview
- Researchers identified at least 210 facilities, with 130 running indoctrination programs and 39 providing militarization such as weapons handling, drone training and grenade‑throwing for children as young as eight.
- The network spans more than 3,500 miles from the Black Sea to Siberia across over 50 regions, and roughly half the sites are operated by Russian authorities, with many expanded since 2022.
- Evidence includes coerced adoptions and citizenship, documented transfers on presidential aircraft, and cases of children assembling drones and other materiel at camps and factories.
- Ukraine has recorded nearly 20,000 known deportation cases with about 1,600 children returned, while Yale estimates the true number of affected children could approach 35,000.
- The findings build on ICC warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova‑Belova as Russia denies forced transfers, and shifting funding and legal constraints have complicated data sharing and accountability efforts.