Russia’s state-owned energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft directly facilitated the deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children from occupied territories, according to a new report by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL).
The investigation, released Wednesday, documents how the companies-through subsidiaries-underwrote transportation and operated re-education camps for approximately 2,158 children between 2022 and 2025.
“This is the first public demonstration that these corporations are integral to Russia’s systematic campaign of child deportation,” said Nathaniel Raymond, HRL’s executive director.
Gazprom and Rosneft have run youth camps since 2008, but began including Ukrainian children after Russia’s 2014 invasion-and intensified efforts after the 2022 full-scale war. Some children attended with parental consent; many did not.
The report arrives as the U.S. eases sanctions on Russian oil shipped at sea, a waiver that includes products from both companies. HRL warns this allows them to profit from American consumers despite alleged complicity in war crimes.
Ukraine has verified over 19,500 deported children; Yale estimates the true number nears 35,000. Eighty percent of entities involved in these transfers remain unsanctioned by the U.S. or EU.