Kyiv: In a significant humanitarian breakthrough, Ukraine announced the successful rescue of twenty-three children from Russian-occupied territories, marking another chapter in Kyiv’s ongoing effort to reunite families torn apart by the war. Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak confirmed the news on Wednesday, stating that the operation was carried out under the government’s “Bring Kids Back UA” initiative, which aims to retrieve Ukrainian minors unlawfully taken or held in Russian-controlled areas.
Yermak, in a message shared on Telegram, expressed relief and pride in the rescue, emphasizing that the operation was part of Ukraine’s moral and legal commitment to protect its youngest citizens from forced assimilation and separation. “Each child brought home is a small victory against injustice,” he said, underlining that the return of abducted children remains one of the government’s highest priorities.
Among the rescued were two sisters who had defied orders from Russian-installed authorities to attend Russian-run schools. Officials in the occupied area had reportedly threatened to remove the girls from their mother’s custody for refusing to comply. Another teenager, who also resisted similar orders, was safely brought back to Ukraine. In one case, a mother and her child were blocked from leaving the occupied region because a close relative was serving in the Ukrainian armed forces a common pretext used by Russian occupation authorities to prevent civilians from relocating.
Ukraine’s “Bring Kids Back UA” programme, launched in 2023 under President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been working closely with international organizations to identify, trace, and repatriate Ukrainian minors who were either deported to Russia or detained in occupied zones. Ukrainian officials describe the deportations as a systematic attempt by Moscow to erase Ukrainian identity by forcing children to adopt Russian culture, language, and citizenship.
According to Kyiv’s estimates, more than 19,500 children have been illegally transferred to Russia or Belarus since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022. However, independent research conducted by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab, funded by the U.S. State Department, suggests the number could exceed 35,000. The researchers have documented a network of dozens of camps and facilities where children are allegedly subjected to re-education and military indoctrination.
Russia, however, has repeatedly denied accusations of forced deportation. The Kremlin maintains that the relocations were humanitarian evacuations carried out to protect children from active combat zones. Russian officials insist that minors are free to return to their families if parents or guardians formally request it a claim that Ukraine and international organizations have strongly contested, citing the lack of transparent mechanisms for reunification.
International bodies, including the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC), have condemned the alleged abductions as war crimes. In March 2023, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of orchestrating the unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children.
For Ukraine, the safe return of these 23 children is both a symbolic and humanitarian victory, reaffirming its determination to defend not only its territory but also its future generation. The government has vowed to continue diplomatic, intelligence, and humanitarian efforts to locate and repatriate every missing child a mission that remains one of the most emotional and politically charged aspects of the war.