UK sanctions Russian officials for 'indoctrination' of Ukrainian children

LONDON - Britain sanctioned 10 Russian officials and state-linked youth organisations on Tuesday, saying they were involved in a systematic attempt to indoctrinate Ukraine's children to mark the 1,000th day since the war began.

"No child should ever be used as a pawn in war, yet President Putin's targeting of Ukrainian children shows the depths he will go to in his mission to erase Ukraine and its people from the map," Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.

Western countries have set out wide ranging sanctions on Russia, from corporate entities to key political players, in their attempts to punish Moscow for the war, which have been largely dismissed by the Kremlin.

In its latest sanctions announcement, Britain said "more than 19,500" Ukrainian children had been forcibly transferred or deported by the Russian authorities to Russia and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The sanctions target the All-Russian Young Army Military Patriotic Social Movement (Yunarmia), a Russian paramilitary organisation central to Putin's attempts to forcibly deport and indoctrinate Ukraine's younger generation, the statement added.

The Russian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the sanctions. REUTERS