136 locations in Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine are holding deported Ukrainian children. Some of them are being trained for war against their own state through the “Youth Army” and military training.
The Canadian company *Hala Systems*, funded by the Canadian government, together with the charitable initiative *Save Ukraine*, discovered a network of 136 facilities — from schools and camps to hospitals and hotels — where illegally deported Ukrainian children are being held. Some of them, starting at the age of 8, are being trained in the military camps of the “Youth Army”, which is actively training “Putin’s new generation of soldiers”. According to the testimonies of those rescued, the children are woken up at 6:00, fed in the canteen, and then taught to assemble weapons, demine territories and train in combat simulations. Some of them have already been integrated into regular units of the Russian army.
*Hala Systems* technology has allowed tracking of detention sites using satellite imagery, open sources, mobile signals, and even Telegram bots that tracked the activities of Russian officials. Some of the “blue dots” on the maps are children’s mobile phones. The data suggests that many of the locations were created before the children were moved, indicating a pre-planned system of forced indoctrination and military mobilization.
Russia has abducted at least 20,000 Ukrainian children, but *Yale* estimates that the number could be as high as 35,000, including orphans and those whose deportations were not reported by their relatives. *Save Ukraine* considers all 1.6 million children left in the occupied territories to be potential victims. After the US cut funding, Canada became a key donor for technological monitoring of these crimes. *Hala* previously used a similar system in Syria to detect airstrikes, and this experience has been transferred to Ukraine.
