Ukraine has brought nine more children from Russian-occupied territories to Ukrainian-controlled areas, Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak said on May 22.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has identified over 19,500 children who have been forcibly deported to Russia, Belarus, or occupied territories. So far, only around 1,300 of them have been safely brought to Ukrainian government-controlled territory.
Among the rescued children is a girl whose life was in danger due to the lack of adequate medical care in the occupied territories, and a boy who, along with his mother, was locked in a basement by Russian forces while his father was tortured in a nearby room, Yermak said.
Others include two sisters who didn't leave their home for nearly three years because of constant shelling and the presence of Russian tanks, and a teenage girl who was cut off from online schooling due to communication blockades imposed by Russian forces.
"These children lived through horrors," Yermak said in a statement. "We are fulfilling the president's task: to bring all children back home."
The rescue mission was conducted as part of Bring Kids Back UA, a national initiative spearheaded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and coordinated by his office to return deported children to their families and communities.
Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territories are placed in families or Russian camps, where they are known to be subjected to intense anti-Ukrainian propaganda, and at times, military training.
Kyiv has repeatedly stated that returning all these children is a key condition for any future peace agreement with Russia.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has also taken up the matter. In March 2023, it issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over their involvement in abductions.
On May 8, the European Parliament overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning Russia's forcible deportation and Russification of Ukrainian children, calling it a "genocidal strategy" aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity and demanding the unconditional return of all abducted minors.
Daria Shulzhenko
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