An investigation by i news, which analysed local Russian news reports, has uncovered 66 camps for Ukrainians in a network of former Soviet-era sanatoriums and similar sites; it also revealed how a Russian underground network is helping people flee from these locations.

Thousands of Ukrainians from combat zones have been sent to remote camps in Russia up to 5,500 miles away from their homes, as Vladimir Putin’s officials carry out a Kremlin order to disperse them across Russia, reports i news.

Among the displaced are survivors from besieged Mariupol. An investigation by i news, which analysed local Russian news reports, has identified 66 camps in a network of former Soviet sanatoriums and other sites in Siberia, the Caucasus, beyond the Arctic Circle, and in the Far East. i news has also spoken to human rights activists in Russia who have set up an underground network to help Ukrainians who want to leave the camps.

Russians are taking people into their homes, buying train tickets and sending them on to other underground groups who can help them reach the border. One activist said: “The state treats Ukrainians as a workforce, as objects, moving them around without caring about what they need. The state is unable to look after them. They are vulnerable, and they need help.”

The investigation by i news is the first evidence of a large-scale operation aimed at sending captives to various regions of Russia, which has been hit by an historically unprecedented decline in population since the end of the Cold War.

i news revealed last month that Moscow has ordered cities across the Russian Federation to prepare for the arrival of nearly 100,000 “refugees”. Russia now claims to have “evacuated” one million people from war zones.