May 7, 2026

Data Cutoff: May 6, 12:30 PM ET

Karolina Hird with Lauren Thacker

Russia is escalating the temporary transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children to participate in Russian-run summer camp programs in occupied Ukraine and Russia — a yearly trend that ISW has observed every summer since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Russian Deputy Prime Minister for Tourism, Sport, Culture, and Communications Dmitry Chernyshenko claimed on April 29 that around 50,000 children from occupied Ukraine will spend their summers at vacation camps, presumably referring to summer camp facilities throughout Russia and occupied Ukraine. Karachay-Cherkessia Head Rashid Temrezov claimed on May 4 that 160 children from occupied Starobilsk Okrug, Luhansk Oblast, have arrived at the Adel and Grand Viktoriya camps near Dombay, Karachay-Cherkessia, for organized recreation. Temrezov noted that 750 children from occupied Luhansk Oblast will visit Karachay-Cherkessia in 2026. ISW previously reported on the forced relocation of children from occupied Luhansk Oblast to Karachay-Cherkessia in Summer 2023. The Voronezh Oblast government reported on May 5 that Luhansk Oblast occupation authorities plan to send 500 children from occupied Luhansk Oblast, particularly Novopskov and Biloukrayne raions, to the Fortuna and Alyye Parusa summer health camps in occupied Yevpatoria, Crimea, in Summer 2026. Voronezh Oblast will sponsor these children as a patron region of occupied Novopskov Raion. Kremlin-appointed Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova additionally reported on May 6 that children from occupied Zaporizhia Oblast are “undergoing rehabilitation” and “relaxing” at camps in occupied Crimea and the Republic of Karelia as part of the “Day After Tomorrow” youth program.

Russian Cossack organizations are increasingly penetrating the school system in occupied Ukraine. Novorossiya Union of Cossacks Ataman (the traditional Cossack leadership role) Alexander Efremenko told occupied Donetsk Oblast-based outlet Donetsk News Agency (DAN) on May 5 that four Cossack classes will start in schools in occupied Donetsk City, Makiivka, Dokuchayevsk, and Mariupol on September 1, 2026. Efremenko stated that these Cossack classes will be offered for students in the fifth grade and up, and will focus on patriotic education and Russian Cossack history. Efremenko also stressed that participants in these classes will receive preferential treatment when applying for cadet and Cossack corps or any of Russia’s 29 Cossack-affiliated universities. Cossack organizations, including youth-focused ones, have been proliferating throughout occupied Ukraine since 2022.

The Artek International Children’s Center — an occupied Crimea-based organization that serves as a central hub for the deportation and propagandization of Ukrainian children — is becoming increasingly involved in the production and provision of components for the Russian military. The occupied Kherson Oblast branch of Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reported on May 4 that Artek and the Crimea People’s Front public organization jointly funded a 3D printing lab for Russian forces operating in the Kherson direction. The lab began operations in March and reportedly prints “hundreds” of components for drones and tactical munitions. Artek’s role in crowdfunding 3D printers for Russian military use is noteworthy, as Artek brands itself as a children’s center, and is not meant to be a military organ. Artek has served a central role in Russia’s wider campaign to indoctrinate and militarize Ukrainian children since 2014 and has scaled up its efforts since 2022. The United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union have all sanctioned Artek for its role in the forced transfer, deportation, and re-education of Ukrainian children.

• Russia is escalating the temporary transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children to participate in Russian-run summer camp programs in occupied Ukraine and Russia — a yearly trend that ISW has observed every summer since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

• Russian Cossack organizations are increasingly penetrating the school system in occupied Ukraine.

• The Artek International Children’s Center — an occupied Crimea-based organization that serves as a central hub for the deportation and propagandization of Ukrainian children — is becoming increasingly involved in the production and provision of components for the Russian military.

• Russian occupation officials continue efforts to militarize Ukrainian schoolchildren by facilitating municipal stages of the Zarnitsa 2.0 military-patriotic competition.

• A Donetsk Oblast occupation official provided updates on the occupation administration’s seizure, nationalization, and redistribution of property, supporting ISW’s assessments on Russian property policy and repopulation efforts in occupied areas.

• A Russian occupation official highlighted how Russian real estate policy in occupied areas is explicitly disenfranchising Ukrainian residents.

• Russia’s ruling United Russia party continues to promote pro-Russia loyalists, Russian military personnel, and their relatives in preparation for September 2026 State Duma “elections” in occupied Ukraine.

• Russian occupation courts continue to harshly punish residents of occupied areas for online activity perceived as subversive or anti-Russian.

• Ukrainian military intelligence warned that Russia plans to escalate its extractive economic policies in occupied Ukraine over the coming year.

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