Three children have been rescued from Russian captivity as part of the Bring Kids Back UA action plan initiated by President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Oct. 21.
The mission was carried out in cooperation with the Orphans Feeding Foundation and with the support of the NGO Heroiam Slava and the Charitable Foundation Smile USA, Lubinets added.
"The work on returning children to their homeland will continue, so once again, I sincerely thank everyone who helps to do this. It is necessary for the state, it is necessary for our future," the official wrote on his Telegram channel.
More than 19,500 children have been identified by the Ukrainian government as having been deported. Almost 400 of them have been brought back to Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova and Russian President Vladimir Putin for their involvement in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children during Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.