Deported Ukrainian children face forced Russian military induction

- Ukrainian children deported to Russia undergo indoctrination and may be sent to fight in Ukraine, said the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Olena Zelenska. In an interview with the Italian TV RAI, she mentioned that the exact number of deported children remains unknown.

Children deported to Russia "grow up, become adults, and might even be conscripted into the military and sent to fight in Ukraine. We already have such reports," said Olena Zelenska in a conversation with Italian TV RAI.

- According to our sources, over 19,000 children have been deported to Russia. According to the Russian side, there are significantly more - stressed the wife of the President of Ukraine. She emphasizes that these figures do not match and "these numbers need to be verified".

Zelenska explains that Russians "transfer children to Russian territory, change their documents and identities". The Ukrainian Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, also highlighted the process. He pointed out that the process begins with education and culminates in enlistment in the ranks of the Russian army.

- They are all told that they are no longer needed in Ukraine, that Ukraine has abandoned them. This act of brainwashing the children amounts to cynicism and a grave crime against those who cannot defend themselves - said the wife of Volodymyr Zelensky. She also notes that the Russian authorities ignore Kyiv's appeals.

Since the start of the Russian invasion, there has been a clear intention by Putin to denationalize Ukraine. As highlighted in a conversation with CNN by Dmytro Lubitens, all schools are mandated to use new textbooks, proclaiming that Ukraine and the Ukrainian people never existed and Ukrainian children have always been Russian.

Many of the reports disseminated by Russian media and government representatives are likely untrue. The Russian Federation could be using such reports as part of an information warfare strategy.