Warsaw security conference highlights plight of Ukrainian children

Nearly 2,500 leaders from 90 countries, including heads of government, ministers, senior officials and global experts, discussed key security challenges facing Europe at the Warsaw Security Forum last week.

Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir

Photo: © European Union, 2025, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The high-profile conference, organized by the Pulaski Foundation, a Warsaw-based think tank, focused on ways of strengthening Europe’s defences, ensuring transatlantic unity and holding Russia accountable for its aggression in Ukraine.

Among those taking part was Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir, the Special Envoy of the Council of Europe's Secretary General on the Situation of Children of Ukraine.

Our guests come to Warsaw from all over the world 🌐@onedecisionpod in conversation with Kolbrun R. Gylfadottir (@thordiskolbrun) – Special Envoy of the Secretary General on the Situation of Children of Ukraine, Council of Europe; Minister for Foreign Affairs (2021–2023,… pic.twitter.com/QIGwj0dqtW

— WarsawSecurityForum (@WarsawForum) September 30, 2025

⚡️ Russia has built more than 210 camps to indoctrinate and militarize kidnapped Ukrainian children, some as young as 8, teaching them to assemble drones and throw grenades, Yale researchers found. pic.twitter.com/sy461M8KkK

— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) September 16, 2025

Marcin Matuszewski spoke with her at the conference and filed this interview.

Click on the audio player above to listen.