Zelenskyy alleges Russia trains abducted children

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has alleged that Russia is abducting Ukrainian children and training some of them to take part in combat against Ukrainians, according to comments made in an interview with CBS News.

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He said Ukrainian authorities have evidence supporting the claim, though he did not provide specific details about what it includes. Zelenskyy suggested the practice goes beyond previously documented cases of Ukrainian children being taken to camps in Russia for what has been described as re-education or “Russification.”

Allegations of child abductions and training

He also said some of those children are later pushed towards the battlefield once they become older, describing them as being encouraged to fight against their own country.
The International Criminal Court has previously said Russia’s actions involving Ukrainian children may amount to war crimes. In 2023, it issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, linked to what it described as the unlawful deportation of population, including children.

ICC scrutiny and Kremlin response

The Kremlin has rejected the allegations, describing the programme as a humanitarian effort aimed at caring for children displaced or orphaned by the conflict. Russian officials have also publicised images of Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, who has been indicted by the ICC, meeting children involved in the programme.

Zelenskyy made his comments in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation,” recorded with journalist Margaret Brennan, where he also discussed broader concerns about the treatment of Ukrainian children in Russian custody.

Evidence claims and international reports

Zelenskyy said Ukraine has documented the abduction of at least 20,000 children and is seeking international assistance to locate and return them, adding that the true figure could be higher.

He reiterated that Ukrainian authorities believe children are being exposed to messaging that encourages hostility towards Ukraine and its people. “Yes, and they taught these children to hate their native country,” he said during the interview, according to CBS.

A report from the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab, which has examined allegations of war-related abuses, said in March that Russian energy firms Gazprom and Rosneft helped support the re-education of more than 2,000 Ukrainian children. The report also said these companies were indirectly benefiting from US consumer spending while under sanctions arrangements related to Russian oil exports.

The same report argued that temporary US sanctions relief on Russian oil shipments had contributed to financial gains for the companies involved. It added that Gazprom and Rosneft were, at the time of publication, among Russian state-linked entities connected to child deportation allegations that were continuing to generate revenue.

War prisoners and sanctions debate

Zelenskyy also addressed the issue of prisoner exchanges, saying Ukraine is willing to negotiate the return of its soldiers but not the exchange of children, which he argued would be unlawful under international humanitarian law.

He said Ukraine has raised the issue with US lawmakers and urged further sanctions against Russia in response to the alleged deportations and treatment of children. Zelenskyy also argued that easing sanctions on Russian oil sales indirectly benefits Russia’s military capability.

The US first issued a sanctions waiver in March to increase oil supply and stabilise global prices amid wider energy market pressures, later extending it twice. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the extensions were made following requests from several Asian countries seeking additional oil supplies.

Zelenskyy called on Congress to take further action, expressing hope that additional sanctions would be imposed in response to what he described as the targeting of Ukrainian children.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 1 June 2026