Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR) has identified individuals and organizations involved in a Russian state-backed program that removes Ukrainian children from occupied territories under the guise of “cultural and educational excursions,” according to an update published on the War&Sanctions portal.
HUR said the initiative, known as “Cultural Map 4+85,” is presented by Russian authorities as a program for cultural exchange but in practice aims to erase Ukrainian national identity and integrate children from temporarily occupied territories into Russia’s socio-cultural space.
According to HUR, the project was initiated by Russia’s Ministry of Culture and is implemented by the state institution, Rosconcert. Children from occupied Ukrainian regions are transported to Russia, where they are exposed to Russian historical narratives and cultural messaging designed to foster loyalty to the Kremlin.
As part of the “Kidnappers of Children” section of the War&Sanctions portal, Ukrainian intelligence published data on individuals and entities involved in organizing the program.
Among those identified is Denis Buyanov, head of the Moscow Agency for Recreation and Tourism Organization, which HUR says is directly involved in propaganda-focused excursions for Ukrainian children inside Russia.
Another individual named by Ukrainian intelligence is Andrey Ereshko, the director of Rosconcert, which oversees the implementation and coordination of the Cultural Map 4+85 project.
HUR described the program as part of Russia’s broader “humanitarian aggression,” aimed at imposing distorted historical memory, promoting Russian cultural narratives, and raising a generation of children in occupied territories who are expected to identify as citizens of the aggressor state.
Ukrainian intel said documenting and identifying those responsible is a critical step toward holding perpetrators accountable and ensuring the inevitability of punishment for crimes committed against Ukrainian children.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that 2,000 Ukrainian children have been recovered from Russian control as part of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative.
In a statement posted to Telegram, the Ukrainian leader commended government officials, civil society groups and international partners for their role in securing each child’s return, but stressed that the effort is far from over.
“Today we have an important result – 2,000 Ukrainian children who were successfully returned home from Russian control as part of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative,” Zelensky stated.
However, he cautioned: “We still have a long and difficult road ahead of us. Thousands of Ukrainian children still remain hostages of Russia, becoming victims of its crimes every day.”
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has faced widespread allegations of forcibly transferring Ukrainian children from territories seized by its forces.
Official figures place the number of children seized from their homes against their will at almost 20,000.
However, a report from the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health estimated that as many as 35,000 children listed as missing could be in Russia or Russian-occupied territories.
Since October last year, US First Lady Melania Trump has said that she has been making efforts to reunify Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia with their families through an “open channel of communication” with Moscow.
However, some experts raised fears about the efforts, saying the First Lady’s rhetoric, which described Ukrainian children “residing in Russia” as having been “displaced to the Russian Federation because of frontline fighting,” appeared to characterize Russia as passive.
“It is kids who were taken as a war crime and kids who are being militarized and were abducted by a state – not lost in the war. Language matters,” said Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab.
As of August 2025, over 1.6 million Ukrainian children remain under Moscow’s control in occupied territories or deported to Russia. Many face forced Russification, militarization, and indoctrination – practices the ICC cites in its arrest warrant for Putin.
Russia claims it is “protecting vulnerable children,” but reports show minors placed in military-style camps, engaged in war games, and pledging loyalty to Moscow.
The UN has accused Russia of causing “immense suffering” to millions of Ukrainian children since its 2022 full-scale invasion.
Moscow’s indiscriminate strikes on civilian targets have also killed thousands of children.