Ukrainian Government officials have stated that russia is conscripting young Ukrainians into the russian military once they turn 18, significant numbers of which were abducted from illegally invaded and temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories as children.
Some are then reportedly being forced to take a direct part in the conflict against their fellow Ukrainians, UK Defense Intelligence reports.
Read more: UK Defense Intelligence: Moscow Is Systematically Training Schoolchildren in Drone Operations
More than 19,500 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred or deported by the russian authorities to mainland russia and temporarily occupied territory of Crimea, with some open source reports estimating the total number deported to be as high as 35,000. An estimated 6,000 Ukrainian children have been relocated to a network of re-education camps, from which they are reportedly sent on to military training depots when they reach their late teens.
The russian senior leadership almost certainly views, at least in part, abducted Ukrainian children as a potential source of both current and future personnel for military service.
The russian senior leadership highly likely perceives that their potential deaths in the russian armed forces will entail minimal if any objection or protest from the russian public, the vast majority of whom have limited or zero awareness of the abductions.
The abduction and forced conscription of Ukrainian children into the russian army fits into the Kremlin's long-standing russification policy in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory, which seeks to extirpate Ukrainian culture, identity and statehood.
As Defense Express previously covered, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that on August 14, 2025, Ukrainian forces conducted an unmanned aerial system strike against Port Olya-4, a russian-flagged cargo vessel carrying UAS-related equipment and ammunition from Iran, in the southern russian port of Olya, leaving it partially submerged.
Read more: UK Defense Intelligence: Satellite Imagery Confirms Ukrainian Strike on russian Cargo Ship in the Caspian Sea
