It recently became clear that Russia has sent Ukrainian children to a camp in North Korea. This is a "war crime", says activist Kateryna Rashevska. What is the Kremlin's goal?
The case of the two Ukrainian children, who were found to have been sent to a camp for children of the North Korean elite, is seen by some analysts as part of the propaganda war waged by Moscow and Pyongyang. However, Ukrainian human rights activist from the Regional Center for Human Rights (RCHR) Kateryna Rashevska is adamant that the children have become victims of a war crime. She told a US congressional subcommittee on their transfer to North Korea on December 3.
The two children - 12-year-old Misha from the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine and 16-year-old Lisa from the Crimean capital, Simferopol - were sent to the Songdowon children's camp in North Korea as part of a group exchange, the RCHR said.
Established in 1960, the Songdowon camp was originally designed to accommodate children from other communist bloc countries. It has a water park, a soccer field, a gym, an aquarium and a nearby beach. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the camp was converted into a resting place for the children of senior North Korean officials, but it has also been opened to children from other countries since Moscow and Pyongyang restored friendly relations.
According to Ukrainian data, Russia has abducted more than 19,500 Ukrainian children. This official figure includes only confirmed cases, but Kiev claims that the real number may be higher. Misha and Lisa are most likely not included in this figure, as information about these two children was discovered only recently, Rashevska told DW. "At the moment, there is not enough evidence to suggest that this case contains elements of illegal deportation. "Therefore, we cannot consider it child abduction in this sense," she added.
At the same time, their transfer is linked to other violations of children's rights, including political indoctrination with elements of militarization and use for Russian propaganda purposes, which are prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as violations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, affecting issues such as identity, recreation and leisure, or the principle of the best interests of the child.
The majority of the 165 children's camps documented by the RCHR are located in Russia and Belarus, but it appears that Moscow and Pyongyang are seeking to deepen the alliance between them that they created after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. An expression of this new friendship is the sending of North Korean ammunition and soldiers to Russia, in return for which Pyongyang receives food, fuel and military technology from Russia.
Exploitation of children for propaganda purposes
Rashevska later specified to DV that after staying at the international children's camp "Songdowon" near the eastern port town of Wonsan in North Korea, the two children were returned to the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.
"This is important because, in essence, Russia is exploiting our Ukrainian children, using them for its propaganda needs, using our children to build strategic partnerships with a country that the US has classified as supporting terrorism and which is actually an accomplice in the aggression against the homeland of these children, against Ukraine. This is absolutely unacceptable," the activist added.
Dan Pinkston, a professor of international relations at the University of Seoul, believes the two Ukrainian children may have been part of a test that preceded a larger indoctrination. "This is part of the Russification of these children, and I expect we will see more such trips in the future," he said.
Other analysts see it as pure propaganda. Andrei Lankov, a Russian professor of history and international relations at Kookmin University in Seoul, described the incident as "a pretty shameless manipulation".
"Inhumane treatment"
Whatever the motivations of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rashevska is adamant that the international community must do more to protect young Ukrainians.
"For the Kim Jong-un regime, this is a soft, socially acceptable way to deepen its strategic partnership with Russia through a kind of "children's diplomacy", she points out. "For Russia, this is useful because children see a country where human rights and freedoms are even worse than in Russia itself: no internet, no mobile phones, no way to stay in touch afterwards."
Rashevska reminds us that children are our future. "But in this case it was stolen from us. We need to say it out loud," she added.
UN calls on Russia to return kidnapped Ukrainian children
Last week, the UN General Assembly called for the immediate and unconditional return of Ukrainian children "forcibly transferred" to Russia. The non-binding resolution demanded that "the Russian Federation ensure the immediate, safe and unconditional return of all Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred or deported." The document also called on Moscow to "immediately cease all practices of forcible transfer, deportation, separation from families and legal guardians, change of personal status, including through citizenship, adoption or foster care, and indoctrination of Ukrainian children."
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the resolution contained "scandalous allegations against Russia," including accusations that Moscow is deporting or forcibly adopting Ukrainian children with the aim of erasing their identity. All these accusations are completely unfounded and misleading, the Russian ministry's position also states. It claims that this case concerns "evacuation from combat zones of minors whose lives are in danger".