Eleven more Ukrainian children have been successfully returned from Russian-occupied territories as part of the national "Bring Kids Back UA" initiative, Daria Zarivna, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff and head of the project, said on May 28.
Among those rescued is a young girl whose mother and brother, both defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, spent more than three years in Russian captivity.
"All this time, the mother did not know whether she would ever see her children again. During the exchange, she met her son on the bus, and today she was finally able to hug her little girl," Zarivna said.
Another boy was reunited with his father and brother, both Ukrainian soldiers. The father has been serving on the front lines, while the brother had also been held in Russian captivity for over three years.
Zarivna also said a teenage boy who had been orphaned was rescued from Russian forces. The child had been kidnapped from his school, held in a basement, tortured, and nearly conscripted into the Russian army days before his 18th birthday.
The operation is the latest in a series of rescue missions under Bring Kids Back UA, a national initiative launched by Zelensky to coordinate the return of children abducted during Russia's full-scale invasion.
On May 22, Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak announced the return of nine other children from occupied areas. He described the children as survivors of grave abuse, including a girl whose life was endangered due to lack of medical care, and a boy who was imprisoned in a basement with his mother while Russian forces tortured his father nearby.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has identified over 19,500 children who were forcibly deported to Russia, Belarus, or Russian-occupied territories. To date, only around 1,300 have been returned to Ukrainian-controlled areas, according to official data.
The abduction of Ukrainian children has drawn international condemnation. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of overseeing the forced deportations.
Earlier this month, the European Parliament passed a resolution labeling Russia's actions a "genocidal strategy" aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity, and demanded the unconditional return of all abducted minors.
On May 21, U.S. senators have introduced a resolution urging that no peace deal with Russia be made until all abducted Ukrainian children are returned. The resolution condemns Russia's forced deportation and Russification of Ukrainian minors as an attempt to erase Ukrainian identity.
Kyiv has maintained that the safe return of its children remains a central precondition for any future peace negotiations with Russia.
Kate Tsurkan
(Updated: )
