April 17, 2026
Reuters: Yale report links Russian oil sector to child deportation from Ukraine
AMSTERDAM, April 3 (Reuters) - Leading Russian state oil and gas companies Rosneft and Gazprom supported wartime camps where more than 2,000 Ukrainian children were taken, facilitating transportation and providing funds, Yale University research has alleged, prompting calls from some U.S. lawmakers to reinstate sanctions on the two firms.
The findings, released by Yale last week, provide the first "definitive public proof of these companies' critical involvement in Russia's systematic campaign of child deportation and indoctrination," the Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab (Yale HRL) publication said.
With the support of the two energy giants, approximately 2,158 children were taken to the camps in Russian-occupied Ukraine and Russia between 2022–2025, it said, including for pro-Russian education.
Yale's conclusions were based on analysis of public statements by individuals, verified social media posts, corporate websites and records, it said. Reuters could not independently confirm the report's findings.
Russia's foreign ministry and Ukrainian authorities did not respond to requests for comment.
In response to a Reuters request for comment on details of the report, Gazprom said: "Gazprom owns several health resorts in Russia and Russian children spend summer vacations there."
Russia has consistently denied it forcibly took Ukrainian children, saying it removed them from danger on humanitarian grounds. It has dismissed earlier Yale reports as anti-Russian propaganda.
Lawyers representing Rosneft said in a letter to Reuters that Yale's report failed to find any evidence of participation in illegal activity by the company.
"In essence, the report purports to attribute participation in war crimes to Rosneft without any evidence. Rosneft categorically denies directing, controlling, or participating in any of the alleged conduct," it said.
ROLE OF THE UNIONS
At least 1,072 children from Russia-occupied Ukraine received vouchers from Gazprom subsidiaries and trade union organizations to attend pro-Russia camps in 2022 and 2023, Yale's report said.
Rosneft's Interregional Trade Union sponsored 100 children from Ukraine to attend three camps in 2022, it said. Rosneft's trade union did not respond to a request for comment.
Rosneft's lawyers said that the union was a separate legal entity, independently registered under Russian law.
They also said Yale did not provide any evidence that Rosneft "directed, controlled, authorised or even knew" of the union's alleged conduct.
Rosneft's website says it "pays special attention to strengthening the system of partnership relations" with trade unions and their subsidiaries.
Michael McFaul, a professor of international affairs at Stanford who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012-2014, dismissed the idea that Rosneft's union was independent.
"Rosneft is an arm of the Russian government ... Tragically, Putin's dictatorship no longer allows independent trade unions," said McFaul, who served as Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs on the National Security Council from 2009 to 2012.