Russia has abducted tens of thousands of Ukrainian children. Many have been forcibly separated from their families and sent to so-called “re-education” camps, where they are stripped of their identities and cultural heritage, forbidden from speaking Ukrainian, subjected to Russian state indoctrination, and militarized as part of efforts to prepare them to one day fight against their own country. Children who resist face threats of adoption, with some placed in Russian adoption catalogs online.

The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights over their alleged roles in the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children. But every day the war continues makes it harder to bring these children home. And more than 1.6 million Ukrainian children remain in Russian-occupied territories, raising fears that an entire generation of children could be lost to Russia forever. Newsmax, 2026.