UK sanctions Russians involved in deporting Ukrainian children

According to an official statement, on Wednesday, September 3, Britain targeted eight individuals and three Russia-linked organizations. Among them is the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, which runs programs aimed at “re-educating” Ukrainian children and teenagers, exposing them to militarized training. Aymani Kadyrova, the foundation’s president and mother of Kremlin-linked Chechen official Ramzan Kadyrov, was also sanctioned.

Valeriy Mayorov, head of Russia’s Center for Teen Programs, was also sanctioned. His organization works to instill pro-Russian sentiment in children living in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, shaping them to embrace Russian values while turning them against Ukraine.

The UK government said the sanctions come amid intelligence reports highlighting Russia’s ongoing policy of Russification in occupied territories, aimed at erasing Ukrainian cultural identity and statehood. 

According to UN reports, Russia has implemented Russian curricula in schools on occupied territory and established training that prepares children for military service.

More than 19,500 Ukrainian children have been forcibly relocated or deported to Russia and occupied territories, with roughly 6,000 sent to “re-education” camps, the UK government said.

 UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:

"The Kremlin’s policy of forced deportations, indoctrination and militarization of Ukrainian children is despicable, and demonstrates the depths of depravity that President Putin will reach to erase Ukrainian language, culture, and identity.  

To take a child from their home and seek to forcibly erase their heritage and upbringing through lies and disinformation can never be tolerated. No child should ever be a pawn of war, and that is why we are holding those responsible to account. "