Ukrainian Children Reportedly Sent to North Korea for Re-education
WASHINGTON D.C. – Ukrainian legal expert Kateryna rashevska testified before a US Congressional subcommittee Wednesday that at least two Ukrainian children abducted from occupied territories have been forcibly taken to north Korea. Rashevska, of the Regional Center for Human Rights of Ukraine, identified the children as 12-year-old Misha from the Donetsk region and 16-year-old Liza from simferopol.
The children where sent to the Songdowon camp in North Korea, approximately 9,000 km from their homes, where they are reportedly being indoctrinated to “destroy Japanese militarists” and were scheduled to meet Korean veterans involved in the 1968 attack on the US naval ship Pueblo, an incident that resulted in the deaths and injuries of nine American soldiers.
Rashevska stated that her organization has documented 165 re-education camps where Ukrainian children are being “militarized and Russified,” located in occupied territories, Russia, Belarus, and now North Korea. she emphasized that this process causes “severe trauma and violates the dignity of children,” with 17-year-old boys receiving draft notices for the Russian army, ultimately aiming “to get Ukrainians to kill each other.”
The revelation comes amid reports from South Korean and Western intelligence agencies indicating North Korea has sent over 10,000 soldiers to russia in 2024, primarily to the Kursk region, along with artillery shells, rockets, and long-range missile systems. North Korea is considered a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin.