Kyiv: At least two Ukrainian children have reportedly been abducted by Russian forces in Ukraine and forcibly transferred to a camp in North Korea. This revelation comes from a report by a Ukrainian online newspaper, which cited the testimony of a legal expert.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Kateryna Rashevska, a legal expert with Ukraine's Regional Center for Human Rights, detailed these allegations while speaking before a U.S. congressional subcommittee. Rashevska identified the children as 12-year-old Misha from the occupied Donetsk region and 16-year-old Liza from occupied Simferopol. These children were allegedly sent to the Songdowon camp in North Korea, which is approximately 9,000 kilometers away from their homes.

Rashevska further claimed that at this camp, the children were indoctrinated against "Japanese militarists" and interacted with Korean veterans involved in the 1968 attack on the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, which resulted in the deaths and injuries of several American soldiers. The specific camp in question is believed to be the Songdowon International Children's Camp, a facility established in 1960 in the coastal city of Wonsan.

The Kyiv Independent newspaper also reported a broader context, stating that since February 2022, at least 19,546 Ukrainian children have been forcefully relocated from their homes to Russia or areas under Russian control. This information was sourced from Ukraine's national "Children of War" database.