Russia forcibly transferred tens of thousands of Ukrainian children and forced detainees into labor, US finds.
Subject of this story
Also named
What happened
The State Department's 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report found 'a government policy or pattern of trafficking of Ukrainian citizens and North Korean workers' in Russia, citing the government's 'forcible transfer of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.' It also described a filtration and detention system that included forced labor and said Russia-led forces in occupied Ukraine forced Ukrainians, including detainees, to fight or perform labor such as clearing rubble. Russia reported no trafficking investigations, prosecutions or convictions. In an October 2025 TV interview, Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights and subject of an ICC arrest warrant since March 2023, described taking a 15-year-old boy from Mariupol, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Sources (4)
Response
Contacted and made an on-record admission — exact wording not on record.
Not yet contacted for this story.
What happened next (0)
No outcome recorded yet.