A “large group” of Ukrainian children has been returned from territories temporarily occupied by Russia as part of the Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative.
The announcement was made on Telegram by the head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak.
“During the years of occupation, they experienced oppression, coercion, and the imposition of Russian propaganda, but today they are safe and receiving the necessary assistance in Ukraine,” Yermak said.
Among the returned children are sisters whom the Russians tried to take to a boarding school after their mother’s death. Some of the children were forced to sing the Russian anthem and participate in propaganda meetings with Russian military personnel.
One of the returnees is a teenager who, despite health problems, was registered for military service. His mother was humiliated for refusing to send her children to military events.
Today they are all receiving support, including document restoration, psychological rehabilitation, and assistance in starting a new life of freedom, Yermak said.
He expressed his gratitude to the Save Ukraine team – an organization that works toward repatriating abducted children – and all partners involved in their rescue.
In August, US First Lady Melania Trump wrote a letter to Russian leader Vladimir Putin urging him to address Russia’s deportation of Ukrainian children.
According to two US officials cited by Reuters, US President Donald Trump personally handed the letter to Putin during talks in Alaska on Aug. 15.
On June 30 bipartisan group of leading US lawmakers introduced a congressional resolution calling for the return of all abducted Ukrainian children before finalizing any peace agreement between the war-torn country Ukraine and its invader, Russia.
The issue has been at the center of an international war crimes arrest warrants against Putin and key Russian officials, as Ukraine has officially identified 19,546 children, calling their abductions war crimes that meet the UN definition of genocide.