In occupied Ukraine, Russia is accused of indoctrinating children and detaining them in care homes

A report from occupied southern Ukraine says Russian authorities have been trying to re-educate Ukrainian children and move them through Russian-run care systems after the full-scale invasion. The account centres on Kherson, where a former foster child described being stopped at a checkpoint and later placed in institutions under Russian control. The report also says a rescue mission brought four children back home.

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The young woman, identified only as Anastasiia to protect her identity, said she was 15 when Russian forces took control of Kherson in 2022. She said she and a friend tried to leave because of shelling near her home, but were stopped by Russian soldiers at a checkpoint. According to her account, the soldiers told them they were dangerous to the Russian state, after which she was enrolled in a college where she says she was exposed to re-education and indoctrination.

The report says Russia's children's rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, visited the school and offered pupils study opportunities near Moscow or the chance to join cadet training. Anastasiia said she was later moved between Russian foster families in occupied territory and was physically harmed in one of the homes. She said she was told her mother would not take her back from occupied territory.

The report says she is now safely back in Ukraine's capital. The case is part of a wider pattern that Ukrainian and international officials have been tracking since the start of the war. The report says tens of thousands of Ukrainian children are believed to have been taken by Russia, while about 1.6 million are estimated to be growing up under occupation.

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It also says newly installed occupation authorities have introduced indoctrination programmes and military training in those areas. The issue has become one of the most sensitive and legally significant aspects of the conflict. The report says the United Nations concluded in 2025 that Russia is committing crimes against humanity in occupied regions of Ukraine.

That finding gives added weight to allegations that children are being transferred, placed in Russian-run care, and exposed to political or military messaging intended to reshape their identity and loyalties. Kherson itself has been at the centre of the wider struggle over occupied southern Ukraine. Russian troops captured the city in March 2022, and Ukraine later retook it about seven months afterwards, but the report says many children had already been taken further behind the front lines by Russian authorities.

That makes the fate of children from occupied areas harder to trace and increases the difficulty of family reunification efforts. The report also highlights the fear that surrounds life under occupation. It says people are terrified to speak out because of possible retaliation from Russian authorities, which limits independent reporting and makes verification difficult.

The rescue mission described in the report suggests that some children can still be brought back, but it also underlines how many remain out of reach. What remains unclear is how many children are still in Russian-controlled institutions, how many have been moved deeper into occupied territory, and how many can be safely returned. The report does not give details of the rescue route or the organisations involved in bringing the four children home.