At least 2 Ukrainian children abducted by Russians forcibly sent to N. Korean camp: report
Regional Center for Human Rights legal expert Kateryna Rashevska holds up a photograph of who she said are abducted Ukrainian children during a hearing of the U.S. congressional subcommittee in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. AFP-Yonhap
At least two Ukrainian children were found to have been abducted by Russian troops in Ukraine and forcibly transferred to a camp in North Korea, a Ukrainian online newspaper reported, citing a legal expert.
Kateryna Rashevska, a legal expert at Ukraine's Regional Center for Human Rights, made the assertion while testifying at a U.S. congressional subcommittee, according to a report by the Kyiv Independent newspaper Wednesday (local time).
"12-year-old Misha from the occupied Donetsk region and 16-year-old Liza from occupied Simferopol were sent to Songdowon camp in North Korea, 9,000 kilometers from home," Rashevska was quoted as saying.
At the camp, the children were taught to destroy "Japanese militarists" and met Korean veterans who killed and wounded nine American soldiers during the attack of the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo in 1968, according to her.
It is unclear which camp she was referring to, though it is believed to be Songdowon International Children's Camp, built in 1960 in the eastern coastal city of Wonsan.
At least 19,546 Ukrainian children have been forcibly taken from their homes and transported to Russia or Russian-controlled areas since February 2022, the newspaper said, citing Ukraine's national "Children of War" database.