Russians abduct over 100 Ukrainian children from Mariupol

Russian authorities continue deporting Ukrainian children from occupied territories, recently taking another 119 schoolchildren from the temporarily occupied Donetsk regional city of Mariupol, the National Resistance Center (NRC) reports. 

They will undergo so-called re-education, which includes meetings with Russian propagandists.

“The occupiers conduct such systematic trips of our children to Russia in order to assimilate young Ukrainians into Moscow’s identity,” the NRC states. 

The children are being forced to swear allegiance to Russia and intolerance toward the Ukrainian nation and culture is being fostered.

“However, there are cases when children could not return home after such ‘school field trips’ during the holidays,” the report says. “In this way, the Kremlin is also carrying out a genocide of Ukrainians through abductions.”

In addition to targeting children, Russia is forcibly conscripting Ukrainian youth in Mariupol. The occupiers have already drafted and sent Ukrainian citizens from occupied Mariupol, Volnovakha, and areas of the Zaporizhzhia region to Russian military units.

Previously, in occupied territories, Russian authorities banned koliadky [carols], vertep [traditional Ukrainian folk theater], and even the mention of Saint Nicholas at educational institutions. The occupiers have also established Russification centers in captured towns and villages, forcing Ukrainian children to swear allegiance to Russia.