The United Kingdom on Wednesday imposed sanctions on eight Russian individuals and three organizations, accusing them of participating in the alleged forced relocation and “indoctrination” of Ukrainian children.
The new measures target a network of officials and state-backed groups that London claims are central to a systematic campaign to move children from occupied Ukrainian territories to what British officials describe as “re-education camps” inside Russia.
“To take a child from their home and seek to forcibly erase their heritage and upbringing through lies and disinformation can never be tolerated,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement. “No child should ever be a pawn of war, and that is why we are holding those responsible to account.”
The U.K. Foreign Office estimates that nearly 20,000 children have been forcibly transferred to Russia since the 2022 invasion, with some 6,000 sent to “re-education camps.”
Among the individuals and entities sanctioned are Aymani Kadyrova, the mother of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, which she heads. The other designated entities are the government-funded movements Volunteers of Victory and the state-led youth organization Movement of the First.
The list of sanctioned individuals also includes Zamid Chalaev, a Chechen police commander; Valery Mayorov, head of the state-funded Teenage Programs Center; and Anastasia Akkuratova, the Russian Education Ministry’s head of children’s rights. At least two senior officials from the republic of Tatarstan were also sanctioned.
The British government said its latest sanctions are supported by defense intelligence, demonstrating “a long-standing Russification policy in illegally temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, seeking to eradicate Ukrainian culture, identity and statehood.”
Moscow has denied allegations that it has forcibly taken children from Ukraine, instead arguing that it moves them to safety and away from active combat zones.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) disputed that justification in 2023, issuing arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their roles in the alleged forced relocations.
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