Ukrainian children from occupied territories removed to Russia under guise of excursions
Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) has released data on individuals involved in transferring Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories to Russia under the guise of "excursions".
Source: DIU on Facebook
Details: DIU said that Russia is using such trips to integrate Ukrainian children into its sociocultural space.
Kulturnaya karta 4+85 is a project under which Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories are taken to Russia under the pretext of so-called cultural and educational excursions. The initiative was launched by the Russian Ministry of Culture and is being implemented by the state entity Rosconcert.
The declared aim of the project is "cultural familiarisation with Russia". However, DIU notes that in practice it amounts to integrating Ukrainian children into the Russian sociocultural environment and shaping them into Kremlin-loyal "new citizens".
The data of individuals and organisations involved in implementing the project have been published in the "Child kidnappers" section of the War&Sanctions portal.
Among those identified are:
- Denis Buyanov, head of the Moscow Agency for the Organisation of Recreation and Tourism, an institution involved in the indoctrination of children from temporarily occupied territories through propaganda excursions
- Andrei Yereshko, Director General of Rosconcert.
Quote from DIU: "These actions are part of Russia's humanitarian aggression aimed at erasing Ukrainian national identity, imposing a distorted historical memory and Russian cultural narratives, and raising in the temporarily occupied territories a generation of children who are to identify themselves as citizens of the aggressor state."
Background: The Office of the Prosecutor General has stated that it is verifying information on more than 19,000 cases of the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia. The figure is not final, as the analysis is ongoing.
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