WASHINGTON — A new report by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab alleges that Russian state-linked energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft were directly involved in the transfer and political indoctrination of thousands of Ukrainian children, speakers said during a March 25 press conference releasing the report.
The report, Willing Accomplices: Gazprom & Rosneft’s Role In The Transport and Indoctrination of Ukraine’s Children, concludes “with high confidence” that the companies and their subsidiaries facilitated the transportation and/or reeducation of at least 2,158 children from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine between 2022 and 2025.
It identifies six camps in Russia and Russia-occupied territories where children were taken, including facilities owned by Gazprom subsidiaries, and says the effort is part of a broader, systematic campaign.
“Gazprom and Rosneft are critical components of President [Vladimir] Putin’s industrial-scale campaign of child deportation, transportation indoctrination,” said Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the research slab.
The report says children from Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhya regions were transported to camps where they were exposed to pro-Russian messaging and, in some cases, militarized activities described as “patriotic education.
“We know that children from Ukraine have been taken to at least six camps…either sponsored by Gazprom and Rosneft…or…directly owned by Gazprom subsidiaries,” said lead researcher Paige Farrenkopf.
She said the research confirmed that “at least 2,158 kids…were taken to these camps,” adding that transfers continued “as recently as summer 2025.”
Corporate Network, Limited Sanctions
According to the report, Gazprom subsidiaries and trade unions helped organize transport, issued camp vouchers, and facilitated activities defined as “reeducation,” which includes promoting pro-Russian narratives and minimizing Ukrainian identity.
The report also highlights the scale of corporate involvement, identifying 44 entities linked to the effort, including subsidiaries and trade unions tied to the companies. It says 80 percent of them are not currently under US or European sanctions.
“Of the 44 entities our report identifies, 80 percent are not sanctioned,” Farrenkopf said.
A companion analysis from Stanford University warns that a recent US sanctions waiver could allow the companies to continue generating revenue.
“This matters, because American foreign policy is…putting dollars directly into the pockets of two Russian companies implicated in the forcible transfer and reeducation of Ukrainian children,” said researcher Ruth Gibson.
The Yale report notes that a March US Treasury license temporarily allowed certain Russian oil shipments to proceed, potentially benefiting Gazprom and Rosneft despite existing sanctions.
Asked by RFE/RL about the methodology, Farrenkopf said the findings were based entirely on publicly available information.
“Our methodology actually entirely relied on open source information,” she said, adding that subsidiaries of the companies “directly claimed that they were involved…in facilitating the transport and reeducation of Ukraine’s children.”
Raymond said the findings have already been shared with US officials.
“We have communicated the report to both houses of Congress and to the Trump administration,” he said, adding that the State Department had been briefed on the initial findings.
Broader War Crimes Context
The report argues that the involvement of major state-linked corporations and their subsidiaries shows a coordinated effort beyond government agencies.
“What this report demonstrates…is that this campaign…[is] a whole of government approach…[that] involve[s] Russian private companies,” Raymond said.
The findings build on previous investigations into the deportation of Ukrainian children, which led the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s children’s rights commissioner.
Yale researchers say the new report is the first to provide detailed evidence linking major Russian corporations and their subsidiaries to that campaign.
