Vladyslav Rudenko was 16 years old in October 2022 when three armed Russian soldiers arrived at his home in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey came to my apartment and said I had 30 minutes to pack my things, and I had to go with them,\u201d Rudenko said.<\/p>\n
The soldiers told Rudenko he was being evacuated. He and hundreds of other young Ukrainians boarded buses and were transported to Crimea with a Russian military escort.<\/p>\n
Their destination: a health spa in the seaside city of Yevpatoria that had been repurposed into a training center meant to strip Ukrainian youth of their national identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were told to get rid of everything Ukrainian, so that there was absolutely nothing Ukrainian, or there would be problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rudenko spent nine months there undergoing Russian military-style training and education in Russian language, culture, and patriotic ideology.<\/p>\n
A Ukrainian NGO, Save Ukraine, helped him and others to escape from what Kyiv refers to as a \u201creeducation camp.\u201d<\/p>\n
After his return to Ukraine, he spoke to RFE\/RL about the strict regimen imposed at the center.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, we woke up to the Russian national anthem. Then we raised the Russian flag,\u201d Rudenko said. \u201cAfter breakfast, we had an hour of education about what had happened during the evening in Russia. Then we were taken to a cinema to watch Russian films.\u201d<\/p>\n
The young Ukrainians at the camp were given military uniforms, including the St. George\u2019s ribbon, a Russian nationalist symbol, Rudenko said. They were told to take shifts standing guard. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was constantly a vicious cycle where nothing changes,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very large pro-Russian machine and it was very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ukrainian officials estimate that occupying forces have taken some 20,000 Ukrainian children from their families and sent them to Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine or locations in Russia and its ally, Belarus.<\/p>\n
Some have been placed with Russian foster families or at boarding schools, while others have wound up in camps like the one where Rudenko was held.<\/p>\n
Mykola Kuleba, Ukraine\u2019s commissioner for children\u2019s rights and the founder of Save Ukraine, described the camps as a form of \u201ccultural genocide\u201d intended to foster loyalty to Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the technique that the Russian Empire used in order to quickly assimilate the population after conquering new territories, to make them obedient to the regime,\u201d Kuleba said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing is to resettle [them] and start reeducation. That is, to see what needs to be done in order to get these children obedient to the [Putin] regime as soon as possible. Make them ready to live in the Russian Federation and continue to send them to Russia, to families, to boarding schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
Save Ukraine has organized the return of 610 children from Russia and Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, Kuleba said. Ukrainian officials state that a total of about 1,300 children have returned to Ukraine after being taken by Russia.<\/p>\n