President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed Russian soldiers are attempting to abduct and train Ukrainian children to fight on the frontlines. The Ukrainian leader made the claim in a recent interview where he outlined how Russian soldiers were, under orders from Vladimir Putin, kidnapping the children and turning them against their home country.
Speaking to CBS News, Mr Zelensky said: “When these children grow up, they push these boys to the battlefield.” He went on to claim that he has “evidence of it” happening but did not provide any further details.
Mr Zelensky went on to outline how Russia had been offering to trade the children for soldiers captured on the battlefield. He said: “It’s important to get back our warriors, war prisoners, but we can’t exchange them [for] the children.
“Can you imagine, how we can exchange our children? We can’t. First of all, it’s out of the law. We can’t exchange civilians.”
The president also told CBS that Ukraine has documented the abduction of at least 20,000 Ukrainian children, and wants help tracking down what he suspects are even higher numbers.
The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Vladimir Putin’s arrest in 2023 due to what it referred to as a program of “unlawful deportation of population (children)”. International humanitarian law also provides broad protections for children as non-combatants.
Mr Zelensky’s claims come as Russia is seemingly losing 1,000 troops a day in its ongoing stalemate with Ukraine.
Ukraine has bolstered its medium- and long-range strike capacity, fielding drone and missile systems developed on home soil to combat Russia’s four-year-old invasion. Strikes on Russian oil infrastructure that bankrolls the invasion have become near-daily events.
Ukrainian General Staff figures show that Russian battlefield casualties – dead and injured – reached 32,980 in April, averaging 1,099 daily. As of Friday, Russia has suffered total losses of 28,200, with a mean daily casualty rate of 1,044 throughout May 2026.
Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey told The Sun on Sunday: “Ukrainians continue to fight with huge courage and defiance – civilians and military alike. Ukrainian forces are not just holding the line – they are pushing it back, making gains across the front.”