Russian officials, a military commander and a non-governmental organisation (Mother of Kremlin-backed Chechen) have been sanctioned by the UK over the kidnapping and forced re-education of Ukrainian children.

The sanctions follow reports that Moscow forcibly deported almost 20,000 Ukrainian children to Russia and Russian-held territory in Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022.

Of these, some 6,000 are said to have been sent to a network of re-education camps as part of Kremlin efforts to eradicate Ukrainian cultural identity and prepare them for Russian military service.

The foreign secretary announced on Wednesday that eight individuals and three organisations would be sanctioned over their involvement in the deportations, described as “despicable.”

These included Aymani Kadyrova, mother of Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and president of the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, said to run re-education programmes for Ukrainian children.

The foundation itself has also been sanctioned, along with two other groups, Volunteers of Victory and the Movement of the First, a youth organisation that has been likened to the Soviet Young Pioneers.

Other individuals sanctioned include Russian education ministry official Anastasia Akkuratova, Chechen military commander Zamid Chalayev, and Leyla Fasleeva and Rinat Sadykov, deputy prime minister and youth affairs minister of the Russian region of Tatarstan.

Valery Maiorov has also been sanctioned over his leadership of the “Teenage Programmes Centre,” which is said to aim to turn Ukrainian children against Ukraine.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said, “To take a child from their home and seek to forcibly erase their heritage and upbringing through lies and disinformation can never be tolerated.

“No child should ever be a pawn of war, and that is why we are holding those responsible to account.”

Several of those sanctioned have already been sanctioned by other western nations, including Canada and the EU.

(dpa/NAN)