this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2025
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153
Ukraine Rejects Russian Proposal to Swap Children for Soldiers (united24media.com)
submitted 12 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
16 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Archived

During his official visit to Austria, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed that Russia had proposed exchanging abducted Ukrainian children for captured Russian soldiers—a proposal he firmly rejected, as was reported on June 16.

Speaking at a joint press conference [...], Zelenskyy stated: “We do not exchange them for anything. It is absolutely unfair. Frankly speaking, this is madness, which the Russians, by the way, proposed: we give them military personnel, and they give us children.” The Ukrainian president emphasized that such exchanges are legally and morally unacceptable, underscoring that kidnapped children are victims of Russian aggression, not subjects of negotiation.

Zelenskyy further stressed that Russia’s deportation of Ukrainian children constitutes a war crime. The International Criminal Court has previously issued arrest warrants for Russian officials, including leader Vladimir Putin, over the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied territories to Russia. Kyiv estimates that over 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly taken since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Earlier, Ukraine rescued five more children abducted by Russia, including minors who had been held in reeducation camps and subjected to military training.

[...]

Investigations reveal a system of indoctrination of children abducted by Russia. [...] Ukraine has identified over 150 locations where Russia is holding or has relocated abducted Ukrainian children, including families involved in illegal adoptions. These are around 40 camps, over 40 adoptive families, more than 50 educational institutions, and several Russian state-run facilities—spread across Russia and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

These forced relocations are part of what human rights groups call a state policy of Russification. Children are placed in camps or foster families, issued Russian passports, and compelled to forget their heritage. Some are enrolled in military schools, others are sent deep into Russia, given new biographies as if their pasts never existed.

[...]

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago

Sick inhumane pieces of shit.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 hours ago

So Putin admits to kidnapping children. Then proposes this shit. Meanwhile Trump dismantles the investigation into Russia's kidnapping of children. You have to be a complete moron to not believe that Trump is a Russian asset.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

What a low point for Putin. What a low, low point.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Whoa. I can't imagine having to make this kind of call as Zelenskyy.

On the one hand, retrieving the children of Ukrain from whatever hell they are in seems like it's worth any cost.

But on the other, negotiating with terrorists only invites more terror.

Wow.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

Ukraine*

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 hours ago

Speaking at a joint press conference with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Zelenskyy stated: “We do not exchange them for anything. It is absolutely unfair. Frankly speaking, this is madness, which the Russians, by the way, proposed: we give them military personnel, and they give us children.” The Ukrainian president emphasized that such exchanges are legally and morally unacceptable, underscoring that kidnapped children are victims of Russian aggression, not subjects of negotiation.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 hours ago

Wow... and that's still not enough of a reason for the rest of the world to roll up our sleeves and start slapping the shit out of Putin, eh? Cool, cool...

[–] [email protected] 46 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

This is a tricky one for Zelenskyy. And of course Putin knows that.

Let's take a moment and bring this ongoing most despicable war crime to the front of people's attention.

Investigations reveal a system of indoctrination of children abducted by Russia. […] Ukraine has identified over 150 locations where Russia is holding or has relocated abducted Ukrainian children, including families involved in illegal adoptions.

Yes, Russian families "adopt " abducted children.

These are around 40 camps, over 40 adoptive families, more than 50 educational institutions, and several Russian state-run facilities—spread across Russia and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Honestly, "educational institution" is a euphemism here. All this was known since '22 and it's ongoing. It's genocide. And imagine what that feels like for the parents back in Ukraine. Even if they do get their kids back, the damage is done. This alone if anything fills me with a visceral hate for the perpetrators and their participants.

Earlier, Ukraine rescued five more children abducted by Russia

This is good to hear. But can they get to those deep inside Russia?

All in all it's just another chapter from the Soviet oppression playbook, v2.0.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

There’s a name for this type of “Russification”. It’s called cultural genocide. The attempt to wipe out a cultural ethnic-group, not necessarily by killing them but by destroying language culture identity heritage etc.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Well, they've been going for a while now. I'm Ukrainian-speaking in daily life (and has been for my whole life), but I'm fairly fluent in Russian simply because it was everywhere - TV, Internet, music, and foreign companies didn't even bother with Ukrainian-speaking demographics when shipping their products (i mean, for example, markings on appliances and such) or releasing software with Ukrainian language until we had laws that demanded that, they just did Russian, because "they'll understand it anyway".

While I remained Ukrainian-speaking, some people bought the idea of Russian culture being trendy and modern in contrast to Ukrainian being portrayed as rural and simpleton. And that was just "long war" , before it even went into open hostility - there were years, decades, even centuries of such conditioning, but also periodic revivals of Ukrainian culture.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 hours ago

Those children are being given military training? I wouldn’t want to be around when they put a weapon in their hands…

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 hours ago

How about swap children for a bullet?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Is putin a pedo or what?? tf

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Recruiting slaves and future peons.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

It's what's known as "cultural genocide". You saw this most prominently with American, Canadian, and Mexican residential schools, as well as literally everything the British did in Ireland - you take the kids away from their heritage when they're young and basically drown them in their colonizer's heritage. You punish them for speaking about their old lives, speaking their native cultural tongue, or doing anything to associate with their old life. You do this severely, frequently, publicly and without ceasing. Eventually the kid "forgets" about their old culture as a defense mechanism, and they generally don't know enough to pass on those traditions, culture, or language.

Legally, this is a recognized definition of genocide. Russia has made it clear since before the war started that they don't want to content themselves with simply killing Ukrainian soldiers or occupying Ukrainian lands, their ultimate goal is the elimination of the CONCEPT of Ukraine as anything but part of Russia.