Russia Targeting Children In Anti-War Dissent Crackdown: Amnesty

Russian authorities have intensified their crackdown on dissenters, using children to put pressure on parents, said Amnesty.

Russian authorities are increasingly targeting children and their families as punishment for opposing the Kremlin and its invasion of Ukraine, Amnesty International said Friday.

After Russian leader Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, authorities have intensified their crackdown on dissenters, using children to put pressure on parents, threatening to remove parental rights, or placing children in institutions, the rights group said in a report.

Some parents had to flee Russia with their children to avoid being separated from them.