OSCE report says Russia is indoctrinating and militarising Ukrainian children

An OSCE-mandated panel of independent experts has said around 1.6 million young Ukrainians are being forced into a system of military indoctrination in areas controlled by Russian forces. The report was presented in Vienna on Thursday and says the programme could amount to the crime against humanity of persecution. It describes a coordinated effort to bring children and young adults into military structures in occupied parts of Ukraine.

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The experts said the system includes training camps and classes on handling weapons and drones. They also said some young adults were drafted and sent to the front line. French researcher Herve Ascensio said children, parents and teachers were targeted if they tried to maintain their Ukrainian identity.

Latvian expert Elina Steinerte said draft letters were sent to call up Ukrainians in occupied territories at a younger age than in Russia itself. The report said the areas at risk include Crimea, which Russia occupied in 2014, and parts of eastern Ukraine that are partially controlled by Russian forces. It said the experts interviewed young adults who had left their families to avoid conscription.

The panel also said several cases of young adults being drafted and then sent to the front line were documented. The findings were based on the Moscow Mechanism, a process triggered by 41 OSCE states on 14 May to investigate grave human rights abuses linked to the war. The report adds to long-running allegations over the treatment of Ukrainian children during the conflict.

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Kyiv says 20,610 children have been taken to Russian territory, while the experts said the broader system they examined affects children living under occupation as well as those who have been moved. The panel said the issue should be included in any talks to end the conflict and called for humanitarian corridors to help families reunite. It also said Ukraine has already started programmes to reintegrate children who have returned, but that much more remains to be done.

The experts said they carried out interviews and fieldwork in Ukraine between 6 and 11 June, and noted that Russia did not co-operate with the inquiry. Their report is the sixth mission of this kind in Ukraine since Russia's invasion began in 2022. The panel said the scale of the alleged indoctrination and recruitment effort makes the issue relevant to any future negotiations, as well as to wider questions of accountability for conduct in occupied territory.

What remains unclear is how many of the children identified by the experts have been directly recruited, how many have been exposed to military-style education, and what remedies may follow from the report. The panel's recommendations now place pressure on diplomats and humanitarian agencies to address family reunification and the status of children in occupied areas. Further responses from Russia and from OSCE member states will be watched closely.

#Ukraine #Russia #OSCE #children #occupiedterritories

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