The EU has sanctioned Ali Chomaev, who heads education centres and camps for children in the North Caucasus, for the ‘deportation and forcible transfer’ of Ukrainian children to Russia for ‘ideological indoctrination and military education’.

Chomaev, the director of the Adel children’s camp in Dombai, Karachay–Cherkessia and the Solnechny Bereg (‘Sunny Beach’) education centre in Daghestan, was among 10 individuals and 17 entities recently sanctioned by the EU.

According to the EU, they are linked to the ‘systematic unlawful deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation and within temporarily occupied territories, as well as their forced assimilation, including ideological indoctrination and military education’.

The EU’s justification says that Adel receives children from the occupied territories of Ukraine, and that the camp’s programmes combine recreation with ideological and military-patriotic training. According to the EU, the camp’s educational programmes focus on patriotism, civic loyalty, Russian state historical narratives, and the promotion of military service.

According to Russia’s consumer protection agency, Rospotrebnadzor, Adel was designed to accommodate 130 children aged between seven and 17 in 2026.

The EU also sanctioned the Solnechny Bereg centre in Daghestan for the same reasons.

OC Media found the presence of Ukrainian children confirmed at both camps in Russian official publications.

On 2 June 2025, the Daghestani Ministry of Education and Science said that 92 children from the Mikhailovsky district of the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region had arrived at the camp. They were accompanied by four adults. According to the ministry, the children were due to spend 21 days at Solnechny Bereg.

On 23 July of the same year, state-run news agency RIA Daghestan reported the arrival of a group of children from Russia’s Kursk region. The publication said that children from the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region were also staying at Solnechny Bereg at the time. Among other activities, the children from the Kursk region were scheduled to take part in the Zarnitsa 2.0 competition. The game is a revival of the Soviet Zarnitsa competition and has been held since 2024. Veterans of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine serve as mentors for the children who participate in military-style activities such as capturing positions, artillery strikes and storming fortified areas.

In May 2026, Karachay–Cherkessia Head Rashid Temrezov said that ‘160 children from the Starobilsk municipal district of the Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Luhansk came to Karachay–Cherkessia for a holiday’. According to him, the children were accommodated at the Adel and Grand Victoria camps. He noted that in total, 750 children from Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Luhansk will arrive in Karachay–Cherkessia in 2026.

In September 2025, the administration of the Ersakon rural settlement also reported that children from Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Luhansk had stayed at Adel.

The EU had previously imposed sanctions on Russian organisations and officials accused of involvement in the unlawful deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children. In May 2026, the EU Council announced restrictions against 16 individuals and seven entities on similar grounds.

The sanctions include a travel ban to EU countries and an asset freeze. EU citizens and companies are also prohibited from providing funds or economic resources to those on the sanctions list.