Impact stories:

Mapping the modern-day gulag: Canadian-backed effort tracks Ukrainian children taken in Russia’s war

May 29, 2025

Growing awareness-raising efforts have drawn attention to Russia’s forced transfer, indoctrination, and militarization of Ukrainian children, practices that Hala analyzes as war crimes under the Geneva Conventions and applicable international humanitarian law. Using its technology, Hala supported Save Ukraine in documenting these practices, locating missing children, establishing communication with them, and eventually contributing to their rescue.

Hala’s technology helped Save Ukraine gather and verify evidence more efficiently, strengthening the foundation for future accountability processes.

2Source note: the article  cites 136 facilities mapped as of May 2026. By the end of the project in September 2026, 403 had been mapped.

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Murat Yükselir / The Globe and Mail, source: Hala Systems; Planet Labs PBC; OpenStreetMap

403 facilities mapped2 (including schools, resorts, orphanages)

Hala combined analysis of mobility patterns, satellite imagery, and open source intelligence to help Save Ukraine identify facilities where forcibly deported children were held.

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