The Kherson Oblast sign is seen on Nov. 13, 2022 after Russia's retreat from Kherson. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Seven Ukrainian children have been successfully returned from Russian-occupied areas of Kherson Oblast, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on June 21.
Over 19,500 children have been confirmed as abducted by Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and fewer than 400 of them have been brought back home, according to the Children of War database.
According to Prokudin, three boys and four girls aged between 4 months old and 13 years old were returned.
"They have overcome a long and difficult path. The main thing is that now the children are safe, they are getting all the necessary help," Prokudin added.
Prokudin thanked the NGO Save Ukraine for its help in facilitating the children's return.
According to Ukraine's military intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov, Russia’s earlier announcement of its entry into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast serves a political goal.
"We consider these searches to be another wave of attack on Vitaliy Shabunin and the Anti-Corruption Action Center for criticizing the Presidential Office and (Presidential Office head) Andrii Yermak personally," the center said.
The Ukraine-U.S. Reconstruction Investment Fund will provide opportunities not only for U.S. companies but also for other countries, representatives of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation said during a workshop at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome on July 11.
A source in Ukraine's military intelligence told the Kyiv Independent the attack had destroyed a section of a key pipeline supplying Russian military-industrial facilities in Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, and Sverdlovsk oblasts.
Ukraine and the EU will allocate 100 million euro ($117 million) to boost battlefield-driven solutions under the newly-launched BraveTech EU initiative, announced at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) in Rome on July 11.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, war has become a daily reality for thousands of Ukrainian children. Some Ukrainian military units, such as the Azov Brigade, offer boot camps for teenagers to teach them the basics of self-defense, first aid, dry firing, and other survival skills — helping them prepare for both the realities of today and the uncertainties of the future.
Russian authorities confirmed that Colonel Sergei Ilyin, commander of Russia's 155th Marine Brigade, has been buried, without disclosing the cause of death.
"As a result of the explosion, a satellite communication hardware station—intended by Russian military leadership to coordinate occupying forces—was also destroyed," Ukraine's military intelligence said.
U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg will arrive in Kyiv on July 14 for a week-long visit, he told a Novyny Live journalist at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
