UK Slams Sanctions on Russian Officials and Groups Over Abduction of Ukrainian Children
The United Kingdom has imposed fresh sanctions on Russian officials, a Chechen military commander, and several organisations accused of involvement in the mass abduction and forced re-education of Ukrainian children.
According to reports obtained by PulseNets, nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia and territories occupied by Moscow since the full-scale war began in 2022. Out of this figure, about 6,000 youngsters are said to have been transferred to re-education camps designed to strip them of Ukrainian culture and indoctrinate them with pro-Russian ideology, with some being prepared for future military service.
On Wednesday, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that eight individuals and three organisations would face sanctions for what he described as “despicable acts of child exploitation.” Lammy stressed, “Stealing a child from their home, then attempting to erase their heritage through lies and manipulation is intolerable. No child should ever be turned into a pawn of war, and today we are making sure those responsible are held to account.”
PulseNets reported that those sanctioned include Aymani Kadyrova, mother of Kremlin-backed Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov and president of the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation. The foundation, accused of running indoctrination programmes for Ukrainian minors, has also been directly sanctioned.
Two other sanctioned groups are Volunteers of Victory and Movement of the First, a Russian youth organisation compared by analysts to the Soviet-era Young Pioneers.
Individuals blacklisted under the new measures include:
-
Anastasia Akkuratova, a senior official at the Russian education ministry.
-
Zamid Chalayev, a Chechen military commander.
-
Leyla Fasleeva, deputy prime minister of Tatarstan.
-
Rinat Sadykov, minister of youth affairs in Tatarstan.
-
Valery Maiorov, head of the so-called “Teenage Programmes Centre,” accused of steering Ukrainian children to turn against their homeland.
A UK government source told PulseNets that the sanctions are aimed at cutting off financial and political support for those perpetuating these forced deportations. “This is not about politics alone. It is about safeguarding the future of children whose lives are being rewritten against their will,” the source noted.
Also Read: NATO: Up To 40,000 Russian officials Killed, Wounded, Captured Or MIA In Ukraine
PulseNets learnt that several of those targeted by Britain’s move had already been sanctioned by Canada and the European Union, intensifying the international effort to isolate Moscow’s child deportation network.
The UK’s latest sanctions come at a time when global concern continues to mount over Russia’s systematic attempts to erase Ukrainian identity among the next generation. Analysts say the targeting of children underscores a darker strategy at the heart of the Kremlin’s war — one that blends forced assimilation with military indoctrination.
